Eevee Royals
by cresellia
Summary: 18 kingdoms, 8 eevee royals, some friend some at war. He was a ruthless Umbreon Prince, she was an abandoned Glaceon Princess and several other eeveelutions and their lives, drama and adventures and kingdoms. Everything is fair in love and war, but can love bloom in war? Follow the lives of 8 royals in persuit for love and power and their duties to the legendaries.
1. The ice princess

**After all the requests from the previous Eevee fanfic, "Eevee high school tale," I decided to do another.**

**Don't worry, this is not a sequel. This is an entirely independent fanfic with new characters and of course, all the eeveelutions and with an entirely different setting to the previous one of the high school.**

**This is dedicated to my oldest friend on fanfic: Shadow Snivy, who helped me improve a lot in my previous one. Thanks a lot Shadow Snivy.**

**Also, this the first time I am actually giving major supporting roles to pokemon from generation 5 and 6, legendary and all.**

**Note: No human cast involved**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon**

**Brief Plotline (Must read):**

**There are 18 pokemon Kingdom in the pokemon universe, each Kingdom for each of the types. They are ruled by kings and queens and the royal successors, Prince and Princess Pokemon who often have to prove themselves worthy of the throne. Each Kingdom has sworn loyalty to a particular legendary and the royal families and warriors can converse with them and seek their help in the Ceremony of the Ancients.**

**It's not necessary that only specific type pokemon live in each Kingdom, like fire pokemon in the fire kingdom. Pokemon living in the kingdom and armies may differ from the type of kingdom they serve.**

**Some kingdoms are united and have treaties while others are at war. In this place, the story of the seven Eeveelutions, all belonging to royal families, will take place; their love life, their wars, their friendships, tragedies, drama, everything.**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

He looked in the mirror for the final time, combing the golden fur spikes of his head with his claws and running the electricity through them with just enough volts to keep them standing.

Volt, A Jolteon Prince of the Blitz Kingdom, was putting up final touches before presenting himself to his father, the king of the Electric Empire, an Ampharos. His mother had been a Jolteon, before she passed away, leaving him and his little sister, Sapphire the Eevee alone with their father.

He darted across the corridors of the castle, aiming straight for the throne room, dodging the courtiers and the servants as swiftly as only a prince could. Volt was a warrior and leader of the army and was known for his speed in battles.

He entered the throne room and walked slowly and gracefully on the red carpet, taking pride in each step that led to the throne itself where his father was seated. He was accompanied by his loyal and faithful advisor, A pacharisu, who walked behind him.

At the King's feet was an Eevee, standing on her hind legs with her front paws on the father's leg. He patted her creamy brown fur and called Jolteon to come up to him. The Eevee mewed, calling her big brother.

There were several other courtiers, pikachus, Emolgas, Mareeps and Luxios who stood on the sides of the throne room, awaiting orders. An Emolga was at the king's feet on the opposite side of Eevee, holding a tray of fruits for the king.

_He always favors her, _Volt thought inside his head. The jealousy he felt for Sapphire, his sister, was not mutual. She loved her older brother, though he couldn't care less about her except for the fact that she was his potential competitor for the throne the day she would evolve.

"Jolteon," his father said. "We need to discuss your training." He nodded, knowing that this statement would be followed by a prologue lecture about his skills as a warrior.

To the Far East of the Blitz Kingdom, thousands of miles away, was the Frere Kingdom ruled by the fire king Arcanine. This kingdom was built on a lava pit and rocky paths were built out of molten lava to walk around in the kingdom for those who were not purely fire pokemon and could not swim in the lava. The castle of the kingdom stood in the centre, overlooking the entire kingdom. It was made of rocks that were formed from the igneous rocks of the cooled lava and was built in the side of a small volcano that erupted every once a year. In other words, the people of the Frere kingdom lived inside a volcano.

"Prince blaze! Well done," Fennekin, the royal advisor of the second Prince of the Frere kingdom called out to the Flareon standing the battle pit, panting for breath after beating a charmeleon. Battling and training seemed to be his favorite thing, second to playing pranks and mischief.

Blaze had no desire to rule the kingdom so his step brother, the Arcanine had succeeded him. This brother was from the first wife of the former king and Blaze's mother had raised the two step brothers after the death of the first one. Blaze was Royal by blood as his mother had been an Espeon before him. After the king and queen passed away, the elder son Arcanine, step brother to Blaze, took over. It seemed like an ideal choice as Arcanine had proven good with strategies and united the kingdom with the Aerial Kingdom, which was one of the strongest kingdoms as it existed in the sky and was virtually impossible to conquer, given its altitude.

Prince Blaze came over to the edge of the fighting pit, stooping low into the bucket which the fennekin had brought for him to drink from.

'So Prince Blaze," The fennekin said, swishing her tail furiously which alerted the Flareon that the subject he dread the most was on its way. Fast.

"Do you have a girl in mind?" Fennekin asked teasingly, looking at the Prince eagerly. Blaze groaned and rolled his eyes, turning his head away. Fennekin was not only an advisor, but also the best friend for the Flareon Prince. He, unlike his brother, did not like the formalities that had to be followed by servants. He treated them as if they were equal in status and wealth.

"I don't want to settle just yet," he said, looking at the sky. 'I'm sure life has more in store for me before I commit."

In the opposite direct to the Blitz kingdom across thousands of miles of empty barren lands was a huge lake. By all means, it looked ordinary, but under the lake was the most magnificent of all kingdoms, the one only a few had been lucky enough to see.

Aquila, a vaporeon, came running towards this water source and dived straight into the deep blue of the lake, swimming at an incredible speed for the castle below. Under the water was the Aquanesia kingdom of the water pokemon, ruled by Aquila. Yes, she was the queen of the empire, coming from her morning jog on the land.

Aquila swam down in the lake, swimming between the various ramorainds, Octillerys, Garadoses and the Milotics who swam right beside her for her protection against any enemy that might be lurking in the lake waters.

In the distance, she could see many smaller pokemon, magikarps, mudkips, piplups and goldeens swimming in the opposite direction to her, bowing their heads slightly to acknowledge their queen.

The kingdom and its crystal castle was incased in glass and Aquila had to enter through a small glass opening which was opened when she requested for entry. Once inside the glass chasm, she shook herself dry and then she strolled along the roads of her kingdom, escorted by her royal advisor, a Kingdra and made her journey towards the castle.

The huge castle in the centre of the Glass chasm was the main attraction. It was built purely of sapphire and decorated by various corals that grew wildly along the walls and the towers of the castle. The stone towers were decorated with pearls and many seashelss collected by Aquila in her childhood. She looked at her castle with pride and felt couldn't help but praise herself.

"My lady," the Kingdra asked, bowing his head slightly in respect to the queen. "I fail to understand your appeal to the land above the water."

She simply smiled at him. "Oh Kingdra" she said, sighing. "There is always something to see. You just have to look for it. Everything has something."

On the southern side of this continent was the kingdom of Stardust, ruled by a Sylveon, Queen Starla. Her castle was definitely the biggest one and one could tell that it was built by very skilled pokemon.

The castle was built purely from pink marble and limestone with Limestone floors and streets that ran through the kingdom. The castle had four towers along its edges and dorm in the centre with a sharp point. The Dorm was made of the rarest diamonds crafted by experts.

Starla was standing in the balcony of her room, overlooking a battle that was going on in the far distance which she could see from her balcony. It was a war between two kingdoms and the armies were head on with each other. She sighed at the sight.

"Something wrong Your Majesty?" Her advisor, Spritzee asked, flying over to her shoulder to await orders. She was not only a royal advisor to the Slyveon queen, but also a royal pet, something she wasn't too entire proud of.

"No, it's nothing," Starla said. "I believe it's skull out there in that battle."

The Sylveon queen had heard of Prince of Darkus Kingdom, Prince Skull the Umbreon. He was gallant and brave and had amazing tactics. He had never failed to win a combat against any other pokemon, even with a type disadvantage and those pokemon who were several times larger than him. Indeed, there was no warrior like Skull.

Starla was absolutely right. On the barren, desert grounds of the plains were the armies of Florasia and Darkus, facing off each other. The battle had droned on for 2 whole hours and now, the battle field was littered with bodies of many grass pokemon, dead and injured alike.

The Princess of Florasia Kingdom, Ellen, had fled the battle field on her Venusaur after her army had failed to conquer the powerful one of the Darkus Kingdom, the one that was ranked third on the most powerful Kingdoms and they had Prince Skull to thank for it.

"You Highness!" Absol, the royal advisor of Prince Skull asked. 'Shall we proceed to conquer the Florasia Kingdom!?"

"No," he said flatly. 'Our work was to defeat them. And we did. Let's return to our castle."

The Absol passed on the order to the remaining army, mostly mightyenas, Liepard and Hydreigons. The army was disappointed by the Prince's orders as they had expected him to take over the Florasia Kingdom. Instead, Skulls had chosen to let the opportunity pass. They knew it wasn't mercy he felt for the Florasia Kingdom. He had his reasons, they could tell that. But no one dared to ask.

Ellen, the Leafeon Queen of Florasia was badly wounded from her fights with Skull and the combat itself had settled a deep rooted fear in her heart about Prince Skull. _Why did I choose to challenge him? _She thought to herself, licking her wounds.

She was a brave queen and always accompanied her army to the battle field. She was not arrogant like Starla to just dispatch and army and then observe the battle from a close distance. No, she believed in her warriors and was always there by their side in hard times.

"His eyes," She said to the Grovyle, her advisor who travelled along with her on the venusaur's back. "There was no kindness in them."

"I see," he said and nodded. "The Prince of Darkus can be rather ruthless."

The last of these Eevee royals was Queen Espeon of Aurora Kingdom, a Kingdom far north to the map. The castle was situated at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sea. It had a mysterious shade of pink which only the pokemon on the Aurora kingdom knew how to make. This colour was nowhere to be found outside of the Aurora kingdom.

At night, Aurora borealis's could be observed everyday in the sky which was the work of the royal psychic pokemon. The weaving of the dancing lights was a tradition in this kingdom, followed down by generations.

Queen Esperanza or Esper, was forcefully wedded to the King of Glacier Kingdom, Sneasel by her father who wanted to unite the two kingdoms. She was in love with skull and had wanted to unite her Aurora kingdom with his Darkus one until her father made her carry out the royal duty by entering a wed lock she did not desire. Now, they were gone and she was the queen of Aurora Kingdom. It didn't matter. It's not like Skull would have accepted her hand in marriage anyway. No, he was not the kind to fawn over girls.

Esper was lying on her bed, looking above at the paintings of the ancient times of the history of their world on the ceiling. The strain glass paintings on the ceiling of the Queen's bedroom never ceased to amuse the Espeon Queen. The painting showed how the 18 kingdoms were divided due to the differences in the legendary pokemon they worshiped and served. The paintings showed various battles fought by Aurora kingdom, they brave warriors that were killed and the former rulers of each empire. She had read the history a million times, yet could not find a solution that her ancestors had not even tried to salvage.

**In Blitz Kingdom:-**

Volt opened the door to his room furiously and then crashed on his bed, tired from the discussion he had earlier with his father regarding the skills.

"Don't take it to your heart Your Highness," Pachirisu said, following the prince and closing the door behind him with a hard kick using his tiny feet.

"Why do I have to take all the responsibilities?" he complained. "Sapphire doesn't have royal duties and clearly Dad loves her more than me."

"She is just a child," Pachirisu said, crossing his paws and curling his tail. "I'm not sure she's fit to go out for war."

"Child?" Volt said, raising his head and frowning down at the Pachirisu standing next to his bed. "She is only a year younger than I am."

"And yet you evolved first," Pachirisu said. "Don't be disheartened. I'm sure your father loves you."

Volt wasn't listening. He was replaying the scenes of the Ceremony of the Ancients in his head which had taken place years ago, the memory of which was fresh in his mind like it was yesterday.

**Flashback:**

King Ampharos was standing before Zekrom with his two kids, both eevees. An entire army of Luxrays and Raichus was right behind them, all of them kneeling to the superior deity pokemon.

"I see," The Zekrom said to the king. "I can tell your son is going to be very resourceful for the kingdom."

Volt was proud of the compliment he had received from the legendary pokemon. What he hadn't anticipated was that the legendary had a better one for his sister, the one that would leave him puzzled for the rest of his life.

"About your daughter," Zekrom said, shifting his red eyes to the little Eevee who looked like she was going to faint from the fear of the legendary pokemon. "Keep a close eye on her. She's different"

With those words, Zekrom disappeared in a blinding white light, leaving the king and his two eevees and the royal warriors. Since that day, the life of the two Eevees changed.

**Flash back ends:-**

"Ever since that ceremony," Volt said to Pachirisu. "Dad has been giving special care to Sapphire. Her wishes are all fulfilled and she is kept out of harm's way while I have to face it on the battlefields and even then, I'm not appreciated."

The Pachirisu had no idea how to respond the Prince's story, though he could share the grief all the same. He looked down, avoiding the Prince's gaze. A few minutes of silence followed.

"I have a solution to my problem," Volt said out of the blues, rising to his feet and jumping of his bed. His expression had changed from the depressed one to a more determined one with a hint of wickedness.

"What is it?" Pachirisu asked, following the Prince out of his room. Sometimes, the royal advisor couldn't help but be worried about him.

"Today," he said. "A Glalie came with a message from the Glacier Kingdom," Volt said, walking faster with every step until he was jogging. "I think he hasn't left for his journey back. If I could just get him to do my bidding."

Volt ran down a flight of stairs and made it out through the main doors and into the royal gardens. He could see the Glalie in a distance, leaving the castle.

"Wait," he called and ran to catch up with the pokemon. Glalie turned around, looking at the Prince, confused for the delay in his travel. "What could be so important that the Prince had to see me personally?" He muttered under his breath.

"I want you to do something for me," Volt said, as he reached the pokemon.

"I suppose I could," The Glalie said, careful not to offend the Prince. He knew what type of people the royals could be.

"My sister is in the back garden," Volt told him. "I want you to battle her and freeze her so that she is forcefully evolved into a Glaceon."

"Ok," Glalie said. "But what will you gain out of it?"

Volt lost his temper. He wasn't used to being questioned but then again, Glalie wasn't his servant. This was his right.

"Just do it," Volt said as politely as he could. Glalie, who was frightened by the sudden change in the Prince's expression, quickly bowed his head and made his way to the back garden.

When he got there, sure enough, he saw Princess Sapphire in the garden, playing with Masqurins and Butterfrees. She looked so happy that Glalie wanted to turn around and leave. Then the fear of Prince Volt settled in and he made his way to her. Sapphire turned around to face him when she noticed that someone was watching.

"Hello," Sapphire greeted the Glalie who immediately shot an ice beam at her.

Sapphire was thrown back but not badly damaged. 'Hey, what's the matter?"

Glalie ignored her completely and began firing more ice beams at the helpless Eevee. She tried to dodge him and counter with a tackle but to no avail as the ice pokemon proved too strong.

Glalie's ice beam hit her several times but she got up each time and tried to fight back. She wasn't even close to being as good as her brother, but decent all the same from the moves she had picked up by reading books in the royal library.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked him but he remained silent, feeling it was best not to tell the Princess about this being her brother's orders. He shot her with another ice beam.

"Ayiiii!" She screamed in agony as the ice beam hit her and froze her. "So cold," she said inside her head and tried to break free. She couldn't move and the thought itself was scary enough. Then, she felt a strong force growing inside of her.

"I'm evolving?" she thought. She had always wanted to evolve like her brother but her father wouldn't even hear of her battling. How was she supposed to evolve without battling? Now, because of this one battle, she was evolving.

She thawed from the ice case, now a brilliant blue rather than a creamy brown. Her fur was a spectacular shade of blue and she had grown shard-like ears that hung down the sides of her face. Her ears had turned blue and pointed and stood at the ends of her head and she had grown a few inches in height.

"I'm a Glaceon!" She squealed. "Time to test these powers!"

She hit Glalie with a tackle, and then used ice shards on him. Sapphire had no idea that battling could be so much fun and she couldn't help giggling at every move that was successful, something that the Glalie found annoying. Knowing that he had fulfilled the orders, he fled the battle and ran straight out of the palace boundaries and into the city, leaving behind a puzzled Glaceon Princess.

"I don't want father to see me until tonight," she said, pleased with herself after seeing her reflection in the fountain of the garden. "I'll meet him tonight. I'm sure he'll be happy for me."

Volt was looking over to the scene with Pachirisu from a tree which they both had climbed. He smirked. His plan had worked to perfection.

**That night:-**

Glaceon was walking slowly in the corridor, making her way to the throne room where she was sure her father would be. The royal servants and pokemon she passed on the way were surprised by her evolution.

"My, my Princess Sapphire!" Said the royal cook, a mawile. "You look stunning!"

Sapphire couldn't help but blush at the comment and she thanked her. She continued her way to the throne room. The guard complimented her as well, then he opened the door for her and she went in, only to find Volt and her father waiting in the far end corner of the room.

"Father!" she said, running to him and then bowing her head. "I evolved! Look at me!"

The king was filled with horror. King Ampharos had been sure that his daughter was going to rule the kingdom. He had known this since the day Zekrom told him that his daughter was special. But now, his daughter had evolved into an ice pokemon. How could she rule the Blitz kingdom if she wasn't even electric type?

Sapphire noticed her father's sudden change in disposition and felt the air around her grow tense. "What's wrong father? Aren't you happy?"

"That's what he meant," The king said grimly. "He told me to keep an eye on you because you never were one of us."

"What do you mean father?" she said, taking a step forward. "I'm still Sapphire; you're dearest and only daughter."

"You cannot be my daughter," he said, turning his head away, hiding the betrayal he felt after seeing his daughter as an ice pokemon. Volt smirked but Sapphire was too worried to take notice of her brother. "You are not an electric type and you're not a successor to this throne. I disown you as my daughter and exile you."

Sapphire gasped. She felt her heart clench inside of her. Her father, the one who had showered her with love all his life only took one second to disown her. And to top it off, he exiled her. For a second there, she thought she actually heard her heart shattering within her.

"How can you do this?" She said, crying. The tears flew down her pale cheeks and froze there. "I'm your daughter! Volt, talk to him!"

She turned to her brother in desperation who hung his head down and shook it. He had planned this so of course he didn't intend to help her. Once she was out of his way, the throne was all his. His only competition was destroyed.

"Guards," he ordered. "Take her and banish her from the city!"

"VOLT! NO!" Sapphire shrieked at her brother but he refused to listen to her explanations. Her greatest joy of life, the evolution, was turning into her worst nightmare.

Five Luxrays came forth to attack her and drive her out of the city.

"No, please!" she cried. "Stay away from me! Help me Volt!"

They paid no heed. They were no orders from the Prince and the king himself. They zapped her with Thunderbolts and discharge.

Sapphire jumped to dodge and then ran for the door because she knew there was no point in running to her father or her brother. With tears frozen on her face, she ran down the corridor, chased by the five luxrays who were constantly attacking her.

She earned many confused looks from the people in the corridor and the hall way of the castle who couldn't help but wonder why the royal guards were attacking the Princess but dared not interfere with the Luxrays, thinking the best for themselves. No one came to help the poor princess.

Soon enough, they drove her out of the castle and were chasing her through the streets of the kingdom, bent upon driving her out of the city itself. They didn't want to hurt the princess but they couldn't help it. They had orders.

Sapphire turned around and used ice shards on her pursuers. One of the Luxrays fell but the next one attacked her with a thunderbolt. Sapphire staggered and fell to the ground, but was back on her feet the nest second, running for her life.

She ran straight out of the city and then across the barren lands, trying to get as far away as she could from the castle.

"Don't let her get away!" She heard one of the Luxray's yell from behind her. She ran and ran and tried to outrun the savages her brother had thrown on her so mercilessly. _If only I could get away for tonight. _She thought.

As if a legendary pokemon had heard her prayer, she found a huge rock with a crack in it with just enough opening for her to squeeze through and shield herself from the view. She took the chance and squeezed in, holding her breath to hear the Luxrays.

"Hey, she disappeared," One of the Luxrays said. She could tell he was only a few meters from her hiding spot.

She listened to them talking and then they left the place, searching for her in the desert like area but soon enough, they were out of the hearing shot.

Sapphire did not want to risk being caught so she stayed there, sobbing silently at her plight. She was homeless and abandoned and had nowhere to go. She had lost the only life she had known her whole life: A royal one.

"How could they!?" She cried. "My own father and brother. And that too, only because I evolved into an ice pokemon!"

That night, she couldn't sleep. The memories of her father and her childhood, the days when she was an Eevee kept playing through her head like a broken record. She cried, teas freezing on her cheeks because her fur was cold. She wished she hadn't evolved. She wished she was still an Eevee. It didn't matter if she wasn't powerful. At least she would have the love of her father back.

The Luxrays abandoned the chase late at night and went back to the kingdom to report to Volt, who dismissed them, pleased with his plan.

"Kind of harsh don't you think your highness?" The Pachirisu asked once they were in the confinement of their rooms.

"Let me think," he said, closing his eyes and pretending to think. "Naah!"

He climbed into his bed and immersed in a peaceful sleep, one which he had never had for years. He was warm and cozy in his bed and somewhere out there, this sister was suffering. But the Jolteon Prince was too cruel and selfish to care.

* * *

**Review and tell me if you like the plotline so far and want me to continue this. I'll be adding lots of legendary pokemon, action and romance between this eeveelutions.**

**Next chapter: Sapphire and Skull meet. But we all know he's a merciless prince. **


	2. Cold and Dark

**You guys flatter me! If you keep reviewing like this, I'll have no choice but to keep updating this faster!**

**Thanks a lot for reading this fanfic! I'm glad I'm writing another Eevee fanfiction and you can count on this story getting better! ****I hope you enjoy reading this just as much as I did writing this!**

**Here is the next chapter for all those who wanted to know what became of Sapphire!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_How long have I been walking?" _Sapphire thought inside of her head. Being a Princess, she had no idea about the world outside of the Blitz Kingdom, the kingdom she couldn't even call home anymore.

The barren desert seemed to stretch endlessly for miles in all directions and the heat was too intense for the ice pokemon to withstand. The sun was up and there was not a single pokemon in sight.

Sapphire was grateful that the royal guards of the Blitz kingdom had abandoned the search for her. To them, she was no longer a Princess, but rather a fugitive.

Sapphire was starving and she had not had a drop to drink since yesterday. Above all, she couldn't sleep all night for the fear of the Luxrays finding her. Instead, she had deliberately stayed awake all night to make sure she had a good head start if any of them managed to find her.

Now, the night was gone and Sapphire had chosen to travel, wherever her fate may take her. It didn't matter because anywhere she'd go, it'd be at least better than Blitz kingdom. What could be worst then being disowned by your own family?

"I wish I had something to drink," she sighed and kept walking slowly, staggering with each step from fatigue. She had not only lost all her physical energy but also her moral spirits. Not to mention, her status as a Princess.

In the far horizon, she thought she saw a water source. At first, she stopped and stared at it hard, thinking it was only a mirage and her mind was playing tricks on her, showing her delusions of a possible better future.

Sapphire had no idea why but she kept walking towards it, her eyes fixed on the water. It was drawing her towards it like a magnet and she couldn't stop herself from going towards it, even if she subconsciously believed that it was just a mere mirage.

The closer she got to it, the more lucid the mirage seemed. It was almost real to her. When she was only a few meters away, she realized that the water source was real. It was not only a small oasis, but an entire lake.

"Water!" She exclaimed. With all the remaining energy she had, she ran towards the lake at the highest speed she could manage in her fragile conditions. This was the lake of Aquanesia, the lake under which the kingdom of Aquanesia was built.

Sapphire stuck her head into the lake and felt the cool rush of the water on her dry lips. She didn't even raise her head for a breath or to check if she was being watched. She just kept drinking until she had quenched her thirst.

"Much better," she mumbled, raising her head and then began to move away from the lake. She hoped that there were some pokemon around who could help her. This was lake after all. And where there was a lake, water-type pokemon were sure to be around. But so far, there hadn't been any in sight.

Suddenly, her legs gave way and she fell down heavily to the ground beside the lake. She fainted from the exhaustion and the lack of sleep and food and the intense heat. Life seemed hopeless for her.

Prince Skull, the Umbreon Prince of the Darkus kingdom was travelling with his army back to the castle after the battle with the Florasia kingdom.

The army of Hydreigon, Mightyenas, Liepards, Houndooms and several other dark pokemon was right behind their prince. Other than this, there were a few arcanines, Quilavas, and Metagrosses who were also a part of his kingdom.

Absol, his advisor, was walking right behind the prince, shielding his face from the sun with the blade on his head. Skull was deep in thought. He was amused by what the Leafeon Queen of Florasia Kingdom had said to him during their combat.

**Flashback:**

Skull was standing in the middle of the battle field, fighting against a Pinscher from the opposing army. The Pinscher tried to strike him with the spiked horn of his head but Umbreon jumped and used Assurance, causing the Pinscher to faint. All around him, his army was fighting against the gallades and the roserades and the Ivysaurs of the Florasia army.

"You won't get away with this!" Ellen the Leafeon Princess screamed as she came head on to attack Umbreon using her tail.

Skull flipped in the air and the Tails collided like two swords. Each of the owners withdrew them back but Ellen was quick enough to use Razor leaves.

Skull used hyper beam on Ellen. Her razor Leaves were blown away as if they were ordinary leaves. She jumped up high in the air in time to dodge the beam and landed on her paws easily, then turned to face the Darkus Prince.

"Why do you do this?" she asked him, snapping her teeth and growling.

"The same reason you do!" Skull answered, attacking her with a feint attack. It hit her and she was sent sprawling on the ground. Ellen was no weak pokemon and she was up on her paws in a flash, ready to counter.

"Why do you follow that vile Giratina!?" She asked him, hoping that she could get through to him. "He was banished from this world for a reason!"

"I do it for justice," he said, attacking her with Assurance. She stopped him with the strike of her tail. "I thought at least you would understand seeing how such a petite little Princess you are!"

Skull, without a warning, used Cut on her with his claws, throwing her on the ground. He didn't wait for her to get up. Instead, he hit her with another feint attack and threw her further out into the battlefield.

Ellen staggered to her feet but she made no attempts to fight him back anymore. She knew that Skull was too powerful for her to beat at the moment. With that thought, she fled the scene altogether.

**Flashback ends:-**

_He was banished for no reason. _Skull thought with a frown. _I will bring back Giratina into the world and prove how wrong you have been about him._

He was now passing by the lake of Aquanesia. He had no intentions on attacking the lake. He had nothing against the Aquanesia Kingdom for now. The last time he wrote to Aquila, the Vaporeon Queen of Aquanesia, he had assured her that she and her kingdom were safe. Yet, he could not help but smile at the fact that the water pokemon had decided to keep well out of the way because they knew that the Darkus Army was going to be passing close to the lake that afternoon.

The army stopped for a short break on the orders of their prince and began to drink from the lake. Skull wandered off into the distance, accompanied by Absol. It was then that he laid his eyes on a blue pokemon in the distance.

Curious, he went over to the pokemon and found Sapphire lying on the ground, unconscious. The Darkus Prince had no idea who she was and it didn't even occur to him that this pokemon was royalty, much like himself.

"Absol, look," he told his advisor, who looked at the pokemon lying on the ground.

"A Glaceon," Absol said, puzzled. "Probably from the Glacier Kingdom."

Absol proceeded to strike Sapphire with the blade on his head and end her life. He brought the blade down on her neck with force. It might have been a better idea to just kill Sapphire with as miserable as she was.

To his surprise, Skull put up a paw on his blade and stopped him mid-track from this vile action.

"Stop!" Skull said sternly. "She's just a girl."

Absol had long since given up trying to understand Prince Skull. At one moment, he was like a vigilant warrior, eliminating anyone who opposed him, and the next moment, he was going around forgiving his enemies. Absol stopped at the command of the Prince.

Skull looked down at Sapphire who was gently breathing. "What is this?" Skull asked himself, retracting his claws and moving his paw over the frozen smudges on Sapphire's cheek.

"They're tears," he said slowly. "She's been crying and they've frozen on her cheek."

"You're Highness," Absol said, studying the expression on the Prince's face. Skull's face was as grim as ever but there was a hint of worry which was barely detectable.

"Get one of the Arcanines," Skull said and Absol ran off to fetch one. In a short while, he was back with an Arcanine while Skull was watching over Sapphire.

He rolled under her blue body and picked her up on his back. Then with the help of Absol, he got her onto the Arcanine's back.

"So, we're taking her with us?" Absol asked. Skull smirked.

"Something tells me, she is going to be useful."

**In Blitz Kingdom**

Volt was standing near the throne on which the King Ampharos sat, deep in thoughts. Though it was all Jolteon's plan from the start, his curiosity kept him wondering where his sister was. _Probably dead_, he thought. Then he shook away the thought because he was glad that she was gone.

"Father, what is the matter?" He asked, tilting his head and ears to fake confusion because he clearly knew that the father was troubled about his daughter.

"Do you think I was too harsh?" Ampharos asked his son, looking down from the throne. Volt shook his head.

"Of course not," he said. "Though it grieves me to part with my only sister, you did what was best for the Blitz Empire. She is an ice type, not electric."

"The Ceremony of the Ancients is tomorrow," he informed his son. "Be there. And Zekrom will answer our questions regarding Sapphire."

Volt bowed his head to his father.

The King said no more. Volt, thinking that his work was done for the day, left the room. Pachirisu was waiting outside for him. The royal advisor joined the Prince as they strolled down the hallway and into the gardens.

"Your highness," Pachirisu asked. "Aren't you a least bit worried about Princess Sapphire?"

Volt stopped. "I did this to her," he said without turning to face Pachirisu. "I have no regrets."

**In Frere Empire:**

Blaze and Fennekin went into the royal throne room to meet King Arcanine as he had requested the two to join him for the Ceremony of the Ancients, which was about to start in a few minutes.

The throne room was filled with warriors from the army. Charizards, Infernapes, Ninetales, Torkoals and many other fire pokemon were standing in files, waiting for the ceremony to commence and for Reshiram to grace them with her presence.

"Blaze, you're late," King Arcanine said to his brother teasingly. The Flareon Prince scratched his head.

"Sorry," he said. "Let's get this over with."

The room suddenly went dark and then, a flame burst out from the centre of the room. Everyone, The Charizards, The Infernapes and the other warriors kneeled down to the legendary pokemon. Arcanine, Blaze and Fennekin were standing ahead of everyone and kneeled down the last.

Reshiram emerged from the flame storm and spread her wings, showing all her glory and power. Slowly withdrawing her wings, she craned her neck slightly to look at the tiny pokemon standing below.

"Rise, my royal followers," Reshiram said in her kid and goddess-like voice. Only Arcanine, Blaze and Fennekin stood up. The rest remained in the kneeling position.

"Reshiram," King Arcanine said. "Thank you for answering our call. We wish to know what our next mission is. The last one was to unite the Empire with the Aerial Kingdom. I'm pleased to report that they accepted wholeheartedly."

Reshiram nodded her head in acknowledgement. "I see," she said. "For now, you don't have to do anything. But, I foresee an attack on your empire."

"What kind of attack?" Arcanine inquired. "From which Kingdom?"

"That, I cannot tell," she said. "But be prepared. I wish you luck."

"Do you want us to just defeat them or conquer their kingdom?" Arcanine asked.

"No child," Reshiram answered politely. "That would be a vile action for something so petty. I only ask of you to protect your people and my followers. And be careful Arcanine."

She looked at Arcanine and silence followed. He understood what she meant.

A flame storm incased her in and in a few minutes, she disappeared in much the same way she had arrived. The warriors rose from their kneeling positions, awaiting orders of the king or the prince.

"Blaze," Arcanine said. "I believe it is time you lead the battle."

"Me?" Blaze said. His ears stood on its end from surprise and anger. "No way! I don't do wars."

"Blaze please," His brother pleaded. "I need you on the field with me."

"Do it yourself! You're the king!" Blaze snapped at his brother.

"Blaze! You are fighting this battle with me whether you like it or not!" Arcanine yelled at his brother. "These are my orders!"

Blaze didn't want to stick around for this conversation anymore. The stubborn Prince ran out of the throne room. Fennekin excused herself and followed the Prince.

"Prince Blaze! Wait!" Fennekin said, trying to catch up but to no avail.

**Back to Darkus Army:-**

Sapphire felt herself moving when she found her senses returning to her. She opened her eyes and blinked several times before the vision of the desert came into her view and she realized that she really was moving.

Skull was walking ahead, followed by the Arcanine carrying the Glaceon Princess and Absol who was walking right behind her. Startled, Princess Sapphire took out her claws and dug into Arcanine.

"Ow," The Arcanine said, gritting his teeth. He wasn't expecting this.

"What's the matter?' Skull turned around to inquire.

"She dug her claws in," he told her. The Prince walked over the Arcanine and looked up his back. Indeed, The Glaceon had woken up.

"Who are you?" She threw the question at him before he could even properly introduce himself. "Where are you taking me!?"

"We found you unconscious by the lake," Skull informed her. "We are taking you to Darkus, to safety."

Sapphire looked away from Skull. He got the hint. She didn't want to speak just yet. He could respect that. Who knew what she had been through to end up all alone by the lake, too weak to even stand up?

"We are here," he told her. "My kingdom." Sapphire realized that this Umbreon was actually a Prince, royalty just like her. _I wonder if it'd be ok if he knew I was royalty too. _She thought.

Sapphire looked up to see a huge castle just a few feet away. An iron gate encrusted with a thick layer of platinum was opened and the army marched in through the city and straight for the castle.

The castle was built of white cobblestone and various patterns were carved into its wall and filled with melted platinum and pure gold. The castle had five towers, three in the back and two on the front. Each tower had an opening on its top used for attacking the enemy from within the kingdom's boundaries.

Sapphire was awestruck by the beautiful gardens. It was not a collection of pretty daisies and Lilies like the ones back in Blitz Kingdom. Instead, Red and Black roses were growing wild all around the garden and even spreading over the fountains and growing up the walls. It was dark, yet beautiful, she thought.

Prince Skull helped Sapphire get down to her feet. After dismissing the army, he took her inside the castle. The two of them were accompanied by Absol. Skull took her straight to the throne room.

"Absol," he said and the royal advisor bowed his head. "The ceremony of the Ancients is tonight," he told him. "I expect you to wait outside the doors."

"What about this Glaceon?" he asked.

"Take her to the Royal servants and see that her needs are fulfilled."

Sapphire took one last look at Prince Skull and he looked at her, but he didn't bother to give her so much of a smile.

Absol took Sapphire to the royal servants, the Gardevoirs.

"Give her a bath and something to eat," he told them. "It's the prince's order."

The Gardevoirs were more than happy to help her. Speaking kindly to the tormented Princess, they took her to the bathroom and filled the tub with hot water and soap.

"My! My! Child," they said, gently rubbing her bruises. 'You must have been treated badly somewhere out there."

"I was," she said, trying to smile for them. "But Prince Skull has been awfully nice though he barely knows me."

"Ah yes," they said. "Prince Skull has his moments."

After the bath, they groomed her fur and gave her a splendid lunch of berries and fruits which she eats thankfully for she hadn't had a bite to eat since yesterday lunch. The Gardevoirs pitied her for how hungry she was and couldn't help but cry for the Glaceon, though they barely knew her past.

Later that night, Absol came for Sapphire.

"The Prince is asking for her," he told the Gardevoirs who wanted to spend more time with the new guest. "Come, Glaceon."

She followed him. She turned around to look at the Gardevoirs, anxiety clear in her black eyes. The motioned her with their hands to go and not be nervous. She smiled weakly for them, and then followed the Absol.

"The Absol led her to the throne room. "My lady," he said. "You must go alone as he only asked for you."

If Sapphire had managed to suppress her nervousness earlier, it rose to its heights in that one second. She wasn't ready to face a Prince alone in a room. _He has saved me after all _She thought, giving herself a pep talk. _The least I can do this follow his orders._

With shaky legs, she went into the room and the door closed behind her. She felt a hard lump in her throat and wondered if she would be able to talk if the Prince had questions for her.

The throne wasn't a glowing yellow like the one her father had. Instead, it was painted black with dark purple drapes over the open windows.

She walked in the dark room towards the balcony where she found Skull.

"You asked for me?" she said, uncertain whether she should keep a safe distance or join him.

"Ah come on in," he said and she came up and stood behind him. He was looking at the moon and she was looking at his face shinning in the moon, his black fur glistening and golden rings glowing.

"Tell me," he said as politely as he could. "Who are you?"

_Who am I? _She thought. She was Princess Sapphire, daughter of King Ampharos of the Blitz Empire and supposedly next in line for the throne.

"I…I" She stammered. "I don't know who I am anymore." She looked down, studying her blue paws.

"You are an ice pokemon," he said, turning around and taking a few steps towards her. "Perhaps you belong to Glacier Kingdom. Hmm?"

"Glacier Kingdom?" she said and shook her head. "No. I don't belong there. I've never even been there."

"Then which kingdom?" he asked. "I'll take you there."

"I, I don't want to go back," she said, not looking him in the eye. Skull didn't seem fazed by her decision, nor did he try to change her mind. He was used to making decisions on his own and felt it unnecessary to persuade others when they had a few of their own and didn't want to explain.

"I don't know what you've been through," he said. "But you are welcome to stay here with me as long as you want."

'You mean it!?" Sapphire said, looking at him. Her face was a mix expression of hope, happiness and grief at the same time. 'You mean I can stay here?"

"With me," he said again. Sapphire felt like running up and nuzzling him but she had to hold back. He didn't stroke her as the touchy-feely type and definitely not the emotional kind of pokemon.

"What is your name?" he asked, swishing his ears and tail with the wind.

Sapphire thought about it for a second. She was choosing between telling him her real name or to make one up.

"I don't know," she finally answered, looking down at her paws again. _What is wrong with you? _He thought. _Have you suffered a memory loss? If so, I feel really sorry for you._

"How about we call you…Glace?" he offered. She looked up and smiled which was answer enough. He smiled back at her. "Glace it is! Now Glace! Will you accompany me for the Ceremony of the Ancients? It is about to start in a few minutes."

He walked back into the throne room from the balcony and she followed him. "Don't you need an army before you stand before a legendary pokemon?" She asked him.

Back in Blitz Kingdom, they always had an entire army of Luxrays and Electrivires and Raichus before they commenced the ceremony.

"No,' Skull replied flatly. "My Legendary Deity likes to see me alone."

* * *

**Leave a review guys!**

**Next time on eevee royals: Meet the legendaries.**


	3. Ceremony of the Ancients

**I tried to get this chapter up fast. I have my examinations coming up, meaning less time online but I'll try and update this story every 2 to 3 days at max.**

**Don't mind me referring Sapphire as Glace from now on, since it's her new name.**

**Sorry in advance if you manage to find any grammatical and spelling mistakes. I revised this chapter twice.**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter 3:-**

**In Darkus Kingdom:**

Skull led Glace back inside his throne room from the balcony. Her mind was racing. _Why would he want me to attend the ceremony when he usually does it alone? _She thought. _He just met me. No, rescued me. And he already trusts me enough. Or is it something else entirely._

A shiver ran down her spine. What if Prince Skull had a dirty plan brewing up in that head of his? What if these Darkus pokemon offered sacrifices with pokemon blood and she was meant to be dinner, or dessert, whichever the legendary felt like it.

"Your Highness," she said to Skull. He stopped and turned around in response. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was a bad idea to question his judgment. Then she decided to do it anyway. The question had her life written all over it.

"Why am I accompanying you?" she asked him, trying not to make eye contact in case his penetrating gaze sucked out the little confidence she had built up around him. "You said _he _likes to see you alone."

"I want you to see this," he said, walking towards the door to the room with her following him. Then he turned around and faced the throne itself where the legendary pokemon was going to appear. "I need his consultancy regarding you."

Glace didn't understand. Was this because the legendary wouldn't approve of her living in Darkus Empire? If that was so, she better get her prayers straight.

Skull bowed his head down on the ground and she did the same. Heavy winds began to blow through the windows and the balcony, rustling the burgundy purple drapes. Glace felt a sharp drop in temperature but it wasn't enough to bother her, given her type. She wanted to open her eyes and look at Prince Skull but decided against it for some reason.

A black portal opened on the ground ahead of them, sucking in the heavy winds. Then, slowly and gradually, a huge pokemon began to levitate out of it. At first, it was only his gold plated head, and then he sprouted his shadowy black wings with sharp red edges that glowed red. That was all he was willing to show of himself. His eyes were blood red and glowing, the gaze enough to even scare the dead out of their grave.

"Rise, Price Skull," he said, more like ordered. Skull got up and eased up a bit, like he was in the presence of the one he trusted the most, not feared. He definitely had a closer bond with the legendary pokemon unlike some other royals.

"Get up Glace," he told her and she did. She had only heard the Legendary order Skull, so she had decided to stay in the kneeling position, much like the royal warriors back in Blitz Kingdom did and only the royalty raised themselves.

Skull turned his attention to the legendary pokemon.

"Master Giratina," he said politely, keeping his manners which were pretty effortless for him because of the confidence he always had. Pokemon often pondered how he was able to keep his temper even in the face of danger or the arms of death itself.

"We defeated Florasia Kingdom in the battle as you ordered." Skull reported.

"Well done," he boomed. Giratina darted his eyes to the pokemon beside Skull and noticed Glace, awestruck and fear-stricken at the same time.

"I found her," Skull said, noticing that Giratina was asking for an explanation. "I feel that she will be useful to me."

Giratina nodded his head slowly. "Indeed she will. I can tell." He said, looking over to Glace who looked like she was going hysteric from all the fear that was surging through her veins.

"Master Giratina," Skull said. 'What are your orders now?"

"I want you to conquer the Fossil Empire now," Giratina said his voice deadly. It echoed through the room and rang in Glace's ears. It was not the clear and loud voice of Zekrom. No, it was sort of distorted, piercing her ears and soul within, like nails on a chalk board. "But be careful. I see an evasion from the Aurora Empire."

Skull didn't seem fazed; just slightly amused. Glace could tell that. He wasn't worried at all. His expression was plain and confident as she had seen it each time in his presence, only a hint of astonishment could be found but that too, enshrouded in doubts.

"Aurora Empire?" Skull asked. "Lady Esperanza won't attack me. She was in love with me once. She still is I believe." An image of the glamorous Espeon Queen flashed in his mind. She was known as one of the fairest maidens in the land, next to Sylveon Queen Starla of course.

Glace was flabbergasted that Skull had the guts to speak to a legendary pokemon as if speaking to his own best friend. The Umbreon Prince was talking with a legendary deity for crying out loud. He didn't have to discuss any love affairs with him.

"She will," he said. "On the command of her deity. I trust in your ways Skull. Now go. And be careful of the Glaceon. She is special."

Glace had heard this before but now, it left her more puzzled than ever. _I'm not special. I'm a fugitive. _She thought miserably. _Why does everyone think I'm special? If so, why do they forsake me?_

The pokemon began to descend into the portal he had appeared out of and in few minutes, he vanished and everything went back to normal. Almost everything; except for the atmosphere.

Glace's legs were trembling. She was frightened more than she ever had been, even more then last night after her exile. All her life, she had attended the ceremony of the ancients with Zekrom and even he wasn't as bloodcurdling as Giratina. There was no hint of kindness in his voice. But there wasn't any cruelty either. Glace couldn't conclude the character of the legendary as of yet but hoped she could in the future.

"Are you alright Lady Glace?" Skull asked, walking towards her. He was looking down at her legs which were shivering, even though the temperature had gone back to being mild.

"I…I'm fine," she managed to utter. He understood her problem. She was scared. He had been there. He was scared too when he first met Giratina. The first experience with Giratina had been far more worst for Prince Skull as it had been for Glace. For that sole reason, he did not feel any pity for her.

"I wanted you to see him," Skull said, ignoring her shivering. "I know you don't understand. But know this: Now that you've seen him, dare not defy his power or No good will come you. I, Skull, Umbreon Prince of Darkus will see to it."

_He means he'll kill me if I did anything against Giratina's wishes. _She concluded. She tried to control her fear and seem bold but that was impossible at the moment. It seemed that Skull had led her into a trap so that she'd be stuck with him.

"He said you were special," he continued, ignoring her again. "It means you must stay here."

"I'm more than happy to, your Highness," she said, bowing her head to him. She really was. She had nowhere else to go or anything else to do anyway. He smiled and walked to her and told her to rise. She looked up at him and their eyes made contact for a fraction of a second and even then, Glace had failed to detect any true emotions.

Absol entered the room and walked to the two of them. "Take her to her room in the east wing," Skull ordered and Absol bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"Thank you for everything, you're highness," Glace said, bowing her head again. She felt it necessary to stick to the formalities as she no longer considered herself royalty and even if she did, Skull was not suppose to find out. Who knows what he might do to her. He had been kind, but he was not thoroughly good. There was Darkness is his heart and that's all she had on him for now. Perhaps that was all she needed for the time being.

Absol began to lead Glace out of the throne room.

"And Lady Glace?" Skull said from behind. She turned her blue head to face him.

"Prince Skull would do fine," he said and gave her smile, a hollow one. The smile was more from being polite then the actual pleasure which he had long since forgotten. She smiled back before following Absol out of the throne room. As soon as they were out, Absol closed the doors behind him, leaving the Prince behind and leading Glace down the hall to her room.

"What do you think of him?" he asked the Glaceon. She was caught off guard as she was in deep thoughts about her first ever Ceremony of the Ancients with another Legendary. First experience at being frightened to death by a legendary.

"I think he's controversial for now," she answered, walking slowly and looking ahead to the Absol. She couldn't see his face and therefore, could not comprehend any facial expressions.

"Not Giratina," Absol corrected. "I meant Prince Skull."

"Same as Giratina," she answered him. "I can't really tell what kind of a pokemon he is at heart."

Absol laughed a bit but it was only a short one as if he was amused by her answer. She had spoken the truth and truth is often bitter than amusing, she thought.

"You will learn soon enough," he informed her, walking ahead with her following like a loyal servant.

Skull, on the other hand, was busy writing a letter to some other pokemon. Once Glace had left, he had busied himself in his regular midnight activity before going to sleep. He wrote down the letter and placed a paw print at the end as signature and once he was done, he carried it in his mouth to the waiting Pidove at the window sill of one of the throne room windows.

"Take it to Lady Starla," he said, speaking of the Sylveon Queen of Stardust kingdom. The Pidove gave out a barely audible coo, then took the letter in his beak and flew away.

"Why won't she accept it?" he thought.

**In Frere Kingdom:**

_I won't go for war and they can't make me! _Prince Blaze screamed inside his head while pacing around his room. The fury seemed like a physical presence in the room and everything he looked at, even the small Torkoals out in the kingdom's lava pit, infuriated him more.

"He may be the Kign but I don't take orders from him!" He yelled, steam puffing out of his ears. He stamped his paws on the ground once, twice and then thrice until he finally felt a wave of relaxation. Then, he landed on a wild idea.

"I'll just run away!" he exclaimed. "That's right! I need to get out of this place and live my own life! It's not like _King Arcanine _is going to miss the presence of his little brother."

With that thought, Blaze sprang into action. This would be an easy task. He was a prince. He didn't have to sneak around the castle to get out. Nobody had the right to question it. And downright unlucky they would be if they did for Prince Blaze was in full mood.

He walked out of his room and closed the door behind him. He began his walk into the long corridors of the castle until he was at the stairs leading down to the east wing.

He ran down the stairs in a flash, taking two at a time and went straight outside into the lava pits of the castle gardens. Here, he plunged into the red lava and swam deep down until he found the hole that led the lava flow out of the castle premises and through the volcano in which the kingdom was built.

He opening wasn't very large but enough for him to squeeze through. The lava he was swimming in was soothing and sharpening his fire powers with every second he spent inside of it. Blaze had always been a good swimmer and now, his skills were going to help him escape.

He squeezed through the hole and popped to the surface. He was in a stream of lava that was flowing fast through the city of Frere Kingdom. The stream carried him all the way down and he didn't even have to use the slightest of force.

As soon as he saw the rocky walls that led to the outside of the volcano, he swam to the banks and grabbed hold of the rocky ledge with his claws. Heaving himself up, he got himself out of the lava pit and made his way out of the volcano i.e. out of the Frere Kingdom.

"Goodbye Frere," he said, turning to look at the volcano one last time.

Inside the throne room of the castle, King Arcanine was pacing the floors, anxious and worried, trying to think up a solution.

"Your Majesty," Fennekin said, trying to reassure the king. "Prince Blaze will be fine."

"Fine?" Arcanine snapped. Fennekin winced. "he needs to learn to take the responsibility. He's a Prince not a commoner!"

"I would suggest you try and talk this out," She said, standing up on her feet. Arcanine sighed at her words. She had a point. The two brothers hadn't spoken or even seen each other since the events of the morning. Arcanine wanted to take Blaze along to the war so that he might learn to fight and defend his own kingdom when needed. Sadly, King Arcanine realized that his brother had never had to hold something as heavy as the fate of an entire kingdom on his shoulder and therefore, he dialed to understand.

Arcanine's attention was diverted to a bird standing on the throne's window. Seeing who it was, Arcanine went up to the window and held his head high.

This flaming bird was Moltres, a Messenger to Reshiram who aided the king on the command of the legendary pokemon. Arcanine knew that Reshiram must have something important to tell him and Moltres was the one to give it.

"What is it?" He asked Moltres. The bird flapped his wings and flew straight into the throne room and as high as the ceiling. He circled the room, his flaming tail following his in an endless fire ring.

"She says this might be your last battle," he said. Fennekin's eyes widened. This couldn't be!? It was a message of death. Arcanine was going to die in the battle, whenever it might be. A tear trickled down her eye for the beloved king.

Moltres left without another word, leaving behind Arcanine to think things through and decide what he was going to tell Blaze about becoming the new successor to the throne.

"Now I'm really worried," he sighed. Fennekin looked at the king with cloudy eyes, unable to control her emotions. How would Prince Blaze take it? She got up to go and inform the prince.

"No," King Arcanine said sternly, bringing her to a halt. "I must do this alone."

**In blitz Kingdom:**

It was night time and the moon and stars had already dominated the sky. It was the night for the ceremony of the Ancients and Zekrom was going to present itself to the Blitz Kingdom's nobles.

Volt entered the throne room where the ceremony was going to be commenced, followed by Pachirisu. Volt didn't know what to feel. A part of him was relishing the idea that with Sapphire gone, Zekrom would have grand plans for him as the next ruler of the Blitz Kingdom. A part of him was dreading about what may Zekrom reveal regarding her exile.

The warriors of the Blitz Kingdom, Menetrics, Luxrays, Raichus, electrivires and many others were standing in files, kneeling low and bowing their heads.

Volt, King Ampharos and Pachirisu were standing in a triangle ahead of the army, bowing their heads too. The room was dark except for the moonlight pouring in through the windows.

A loud cackle of lightening was heard from outside and a blue thunderbolt was barely visible between the dark black clouds that had covered the Kingdom's premises. Blue electricity began to appear out of thin air and collect in a huge ball of blue until it was nothing but a blinding white light. The ball burst into a thousand lightning bolts and Zekrom emerged from within it, roaring to make his presence known.

"Rise Ampharos and Volt and the little nitwit!" he grumbled and they all stood up. Pachirisu was fuming for being called a nitwit for the hundredth time but managed to keep his anger hidden in case he offended the legendary deity.

"I see that little Eevee of yours failed to show up!" he growled, lowering his neck and gazing down at the three small pokemons, his blood red eyes glowing. He was breathing heavily, almost as if he was holding himself from tearing the place apart with his giant claws, the size of an average tower. His black body was as dark as the night sky yet and yet, it had a mysterious glow to it.

"She evolved into an Ice type," Ampharos said, bowing his head low. "It was exactly how you foretold years ago."

The sudden change in the air made the fact known that Zekrom was surprised to hear this. He hadn't foretold anything, that's what he knew. All he had ever revealed to the king was that his daughter was special.

"Where is she now?" he said, growing impatient with every passing second.

"I exiled her," Ampharos said slowly. This was precisely the kind of thing that was holding Zekrom from losing his mind. Ampharos had made the biggest mistake of his life, all under the treachery of the selfish Jolteon Prince Volt.

"YOU! What?!" He growled, and then roared into Apmpharos's face in anger. Ampharos fell to his feet. Zekrom roared and growled and stamped his feet, shaking the entire room around him. Surges of blue electricity were hurled wildly into various directions and the clash of thunder could be heard from outside as if the skies were sharing in the fury. None of the warriors dared to raise their heads.

"I don't understand!?" Ampharos exclaimed his hands and legs trembling in fear. "She is not electric. She can't rule Blitz Kingdom!"

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE _WATCHING_ HER!" He roared, his temper losing control. His drill-like tail began to glow a bright blue and spin rapidly. One sudden movement and he could tear down the castle wall. He snarled his teeth in the King's face, showing the deadly fangs. "SHE WAS DIFFERENT! SHE WILL BE THE REASON FOR THE DESTRUCTING OF YOUR EMPIRE! THE FALL OF THE BLITZ KINGDOM! FIND HER IMMEDIATELY!"

He gave out a loud roar that rang into everyone's ears. A few of them were sure they had gone deaf but thankfully, that was the last thing Zekrom had for the time being, he disappeared into a flash of blue light.

Ampharos looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Volt, standing next to him, was breathing heavily, sucking as much air as he could to keep himself from fainting. _Why?_ He thought._ Why is she special? And how can she destroy the Blitz Kingdom!? _

Servants came to help Apmpharos up his feet. "Your Majesty! Are you alright?" they asked, helping him to stand up on his old bones. He felt weak in the legs and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to make the slightest of efforts.

"Sapphire," he said. The events of last night were rushing into his mind like a wild rapidash running on the empty plains, leaving his heart aching. "I did wrong by my own daughter! We must find her!" he was sweating like crazy and his head was spinning with all sorts of horrible thoughts of what might have happened to Sapphire.

"No, she won't come back," Volt muttered under his breath. Everyone was too busy with the king to even notice him. "Not while I'm here." He frowned and channeled his electrical energy into his fur, making them stand on its ends. _She is not better than me!_

**In Florasia kingdom:**

The castle of the grass kingdom of Florasia was not nearly as large as others but definitely a constitution of the most brilliant of hues and perfect colour combinations with flowers from all over the world. The castle stood in the other end of the kingdom. It was built of strong red bricks and had flower vines growing all over its fortification. The castle had no tower but it had an open roof on which a giant willow tree had spread his roots and was reaching sky limits. Its leaves hung down, its shadow falling over the castle premises and the roots were even growing down the castle walls. The tree had a flower bed of Gracidea flowers grown around its roots. This was a special seed planted from a seed from the legendary pokemon they worshipped. In short, they were a vision of harmony.

Ellen stood under the willow tree, her eyes closed. Her ears and tail were swaying gently with the movements of the cold winds blowing. The leaf on her head was curled down to her lips and she was whistling a soft tune, the one her mother would whistle for her when she was an Eevee.

"Your Majesty?" Grovyle came from behind her and got on his knees, bowing his head in respect. She moved the leaf from her lips and opened her eyes. The moon overlooking from the sky was the first thing to come into view.

"You should rest," Grovyle suggested. "You have sustained heavy damage."

"To my body or to my pride?" she asked him, her eyes fixed on the moon, making it impossible for the royal advisor to grasp any emotional expressions.

"Please your Majesty," Grovyle insisted.

"Prince Skull," She said, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'm not finished with you. I will free you from your darkness."

**That's it for today. The next chapter is mostly based on Espeon, Aquila, Blaze and volt. Skull and Sapphire won't have much of a spotlight like in the last few chapters but Skull will reveal some of his secrets so look forward to it!**

**Review and tell me what you think of this chapter.**


	4. Instints and Past

**Chapter 4:**

It was pitch black. Prince Blaze had no idea where he was headed in this darkness. All he knew was that he was stomping on his royal status and breaking his brother's trust with every step he took away from the Volcano of Frere, the place of the Frere kingdom.

The rush of the adrenaline was strong within his veins, urging him to keep going. His mind was spinning with all the good times he had had with Arcanine, his brother and King.

**Flashback:**

"Blaze!" King Arcanine called his brother closer to the lava pit in the royal gardens of the castle. Their land was free from any vegetation and not a single flower could grow in the hard grounds of the volcanic land, yet, it was captivating all the same with its hot molten pools and collection of Torkoals and Slugmas everywhere. The fire element was in all its glory under the fortifications of the volcano, nurtured and kept alive by the ever-burning passion of the fire pokemon.

"Yes Brother," Prince Blaze said, trotting over to his brother's side. He wagged his tail like an obedient little brother, though Arcanine was no older than 5 years from Blaze.

"Great Battle," Arcanine commented, looking over the small Torkoals getting out from the other side of the pool. The bigger one was feeding them something burnt but the kids were ravenous and liked it all the same, fighting for a bite with their delicate brown necks.

"Yes, it was," Blaze chirped, and then made a teasing face. "But you're no fun anymore! You used to be!"

"I'm no fun?" Arcanine asked, a smug on his face. He turned his attention to the little prince and raised one eyebrow questionably.

"Yes," Blaze groaned. "Before you became the king, you used to battle too and have fun."

"I can still have fun," Arcanine snickered.

"Oh really? Prove it," Blaze said, frowning and standing up on his hind legs, pawing Arcanine's mane and nudging him to battle him. Arcanine made a swift movement with his paw and in the next second, Blaze found himself drenched to skin in the lava pit.

Arcanine took off, running to the other side of the garden, laughing and prancing about. Blaze realized just how much he missed that. He got out and shook the lava from his body, then attempted to chase Arcanine in the pursuit of a mocking revenge.

Arcanine slowed down on purpose so his brother could catch up with his tiny legs. Blaze tacked Arcanine on the neck and grabbed on to his mane. Skidding his way up, he bit Arcanine on the ear.

Arcanine laughed like mad dog and tried to shake his brother off, who dangled from the ear, grabbing it tightly with his mouth. Blaze clung to Arcanine's fur with the claws of his hind leg and with a little effort, was on his head.

"I miss playing with you," Blaze said, peering down at his brother from the top of his head while Arcanine panted from breath. It had been a while since he last played like that with Blaze. What could he do? Being a king meant responsibility.

"So do I," He sighed, straightening up and raising his head, Blaze going up in the process.

"Tell me Brother," Blaze asked. "We'll always be together right? Supporting each other?"

"Yes," Arcanine responded, looking above to the volcano's opening and catching a glimpse of the half moon.

"And you'll always be there for me right?" Blaze continued to ask, showing every sign of naivety.

"Yes, absolutely," Arcanine said, putting his paw up on the head and patting Blaze, messing up his yellow mane. "I promise that."

**Flashback ends**

Blaze frowned at the memory. It was a broken promise and a broken heart and a broken brotherhood; all in the name of one bloody war. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to run faster, pushing himself to the limits. _I don't need him! _He repeated inside his head.

So far, he hadn't spotted any pokemon in this darkness and it was nothing new. It's not like he'd be able to see a pokemon in this darkness. Then a brilliant idea popped into his brain.

He fired a small fireball. It lit up his surrounding for a fraction of a second and he was able to grasp that he was now in a desert plain and there certainly wasn't any stalker around. He shot multiple fire balls, trying to find his way around in the dim light. The fire balls would fly off into the distance, the flames burning out and then, the light would disappear altogether. Blaze kept firing new fireball until suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a lake.

"I'm at Aquanesia," he mumbled, coming to a halt on his four paws and panting for breath. "I must have crossed the Blitz Kingdom."

He shot a fire ball to catch a glimpse of the lake just to confirm. As he did so, he didn't see the attack fade away into the distance and disappear like his previous one. Instead, he heard a loud whack, followed by a feministic howl.

"How's there?" he asked, panicking. Someone indeed had followed him then. He eyes were fixed in the direction the voice had come from. He fired another fire ball and the next thing he saw was a rapid water body aiming straight for him from the darkness. He jumped and barely managed to dodge the water gun and attacked with a flame thrower, catching a glimpse of a pokemon scurrying into darkness out of the view from the temporary light.

_It's a water pokemon! I'm done for! _He thought. He wasn't scared in the least but knowing you're at a type disadvantage can be extremely discouraging. Blaze held up his flamethrower, moving it around like a beam of fire to find the pokemon in the pitch black. Several times, he saw it from the corner of his eye, and then the pokemon disappeared under the shadow of darkness.

"Please stop!" Blaze pleaded, snapping his mouth shut and clenching his teeth to keep the flames from escaping. "I come in peace!"

Prince Blaze stopped attacking the unknown pokemon. Instead, he waited for the opponent to calm down and catch the gist of the situation itself, then reveal himself.

The pokemon didn't. Instead, Blaze was hosed down with a massive Surf attack. He limped about, trying to stay upright but his legs gave way and toppled over. His eyelids felt heavy and he closed them slowly, his consciousness fading.

**In Aurora Empire:**

Esperanza swiftly entered the throne room as she had been running late for the Ceremony of the Ancients in an attempt to make a "stylish turnout" as she called it.

She hurried along the red carpet of the throne room, the one which was woven by the most expert of Ariados in the Aurora Empire. Her paws were making a soft clicking sound as she walked between the files of her army on the either side. On the left side was the file of Alakazam and then Reuniclus. On the right side were Gothitelle and then Gallades.

The candles in the room were put off so that the legendary pokemon might make its appearance. Kirlia, the royal advisor to Queen Esperanza took her position beside the queen. Everyone went on their front legs and knees, bowing to the dancing aurora borealis that materialized in thin air. A flash of bright pink light was observed and it bloomed into a thousand fractions, until Mewtwo awakened and stepped on the ground below on his paws.

"Rise Lady Esperanza," Mewtwo said flatly, blinking his eyes ever so slowly as to indicate that nothing escaped his view. Esperanza stood up and opened her eyes, looking at the legendary.

"I see you rule fairly well my child," Mewtwo commented. The Espeon Queen nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"But you need to establish your might," he continued. "The way to do so will be going for war."

"What do I have to gain there Your Lordship?" she asked, fairly innocent.

Mewtwo sighed and shook his head. He had forgotten that Esperanza did not like to fight against other kingdoms. "Esperanza, you believe in peace and love not power."

"They exist," she said, looking down.

"No they don't. What about what Prince Skull did to you?" He crossed his arms, waiting for a response. Esperanza sure was taking her time with that one. He had her there.

"It wasn't his fault," she replied, gritting her teeth at her misfortunes. "I was wedded off by my parents." She couldn't lie and avoid the conversation. He read her mind. She was married at the age of 13 on the command of Mewtwo to unite the Aurora and Glacier Empire.

"He chose Queen Starla over you," he said, ignoring her point all together. "Don't you wish to gain back what you lost? Your freedom?"

"I do," she answered a little too eagerly. "But how can I get what I want when no one's willing to give it to me?"

"They'll never give it to you," Mewtwo said, keeping his voice in a toneless hard gruff yet encouraging and intimidating. "You'll have to fight for it."

"What are your orders?" Esperanza said, bowing in defeat that he had proven his point above her own.

"You attack the Darkus Empire," he instructed. "Show Prince Skull of the mistakes he's making. He'll be yours for sure."

Mewtwo faded away in purple smoke and light. All the warriors rose to their feet, awaiting orders.

"Your Majesty?" Kirlia asked, studying Esperanza's face carefully. Esperanza looked a bit shaken by the recent conversation but determined. This was something new to the otherwise tenderand kkind hearted Queen.

"Prepare the army." She order grimly, then turned and left the throne room.

**In Blitz Kingdom**

The Sun had taken over the sky that the moon and stars of last night had left behind. It was noon and sun was high in the sky, much to the annoyance of the residents of Blitz Kingdom.

There was tension in the castle. King Ampharos had Volt thinking hard about a plan to retrieve Sapphire, something he was reluctant to do. But he couldn't show his true colors to his father of course.

"I think Sapphire could have headed west to Aquanesia," Volt said, scratching his head to portray that he was thinking hard, all the while pretending to be worried for his sister.

"True," Ampharos said, sitting on his throne with his fingers to his chin. A Luxray, A menetric, an Electrivire and a Golventula, the four commanders of the Blitz army stood on the side of the throne, awaiting any orders regarding the military forces.

"Or she could have gone east," The Luxray spoke up, much to Volt's dismay as he was trying to avoid this suggestion. He cursed the Luxray internally. Outwardly, he kept his expression cool and composed.

"If she went east," the Menetric continued, also receiving a curse from Volt. "She might have reached Frere Kingdom. That is dangerous for the princess, given her ice type."

King Apmpharos pondered over this while Volt made mental notes to keep his eye out for these dim witted Warriors of his army who were disrupting his plans to keep Sapphire out.

"I suggest we tackle Frere Kigdom first," Electrivire said in his manly and elderly voice. "If she is indeed in Frere, she could be in grave danger. We need to get to her quick."

"Hmm," King Apmpharos agreed. "Braviary, take a message." The eagle-like pokemon seated on the handle of the throne squawked loudly, ready to take the message.

"Fly to Frere," Ampharos instructed. "Tell them to hand over Princess Sapphire or be ready to fight!"

Braviary flapped his brown wings and took off, rocketing through the open window of the throne room and flying into the ever blue of the infinite sky. He flew as fast as he could, covering ground as quick as a meteorite.

Soon, the Volcano of Frere came into view. Slowly descending from the high altitude, Braviary made signals using his wing attack to indicate to any royal guards that he was mere messenger, not an assassin. He made a sharp turn towards the opening in the side on the fortifications and flied in at an intense speed. The air pressure kept building around his wings, adding to his speed. It was almost as if he learnt quick attack and combined it with his fly, soaring down like a shooting arrow, his beak ready for a gruesome kill. He entered the extremely hot atmosphere of the Frere Kingdom. If the sun outside had been annoying, this heat here was excruciating to the poor bird.

Ignoring the feeling, he flew straight for the castle and entered through the window, landing in front of Arcanine. The king stood up from his throne, curious as to what Blitz Kingdom might have to say. Apparently, he was worried about his brother whom he had found missing last night from his room. He hoped that Braviary had a message from Blaze, telling him he had found refuge in Blitz Kingdom and that he was safe after all.

"King Ampharos has a message for you," Braviary said sternly, sticking strictly to the protocol told to him while dealing with foreign kings. He, like all royal messengers, was aware of the cruel ways a pokemon messenger could be subjected to if they were to make a mistake. It wasn't pretty in the slightest.

"You may speak," Arcanine said in his wise and inviting tone, trying to appear calm rather than anxious.

"He says you hand over Princess Sapphire to be ready to fight," Braviary said, holding his head high.

"Princess Sapphire?" Arcanine replied, confused. "I beg your pardon but we do not have the Princess in our captivity nor do we desire to. Rather, I mean to request about the whereabouts of my brother, Prince Blaze. I suppose he is in Blitz Empire."

Braviary flapped his wings and took flight, carrying the message back to the King Ampharos, who was waiting for the reply.

In a matter of an hour like he had done on his way to Frere, Braviary was able to cover the distance of the two kingdoms and reached Blitz Kingdom. He entered through the window and perched himself on the throne of the king, then delivered the message.

"They say they do not know about the whereabouts of Princess Sapphire," Braviary reported. "Rather, they ask if you have Prince Blaze here in your kingdom with you!"

Volt, seeing a loophole in this fiasco that was continuously damaging his plans, chose that moment to use his voice.

"Nonsense!" he stated, then ran a bolt of electricity down his fur to show his fury, sharpening his soft fur into knives. "They refuse to hand over Sapphire. To add insult to injury, those fools accuse us of capturing their prince! I say we fight whether they like it or not!"  
Braviary wanted to clear up the confusion which Prince Volt had started but the King was pretty much convinced at this point and refused to listen any further.

"Luxray, Menetric, Electrivire and Golventula," he ordered, growling. The four bowed their heads low to receive orders. "Prepare your armies! We fight!"

Volt was only too pleased. He was going to lead the battle and that way, he could make sure that Sapphire wouldn't return to Blitz Kingdom at any rate.

**In Darkus kingdom**

It was noon, and yet, dark clouds had encircled around the territory of the Darkus kingdom, keeping the place under the shadow of doubts.

Prince Skull was padding along his garden, looking carefully at the spinaracks and Dustox and breathing in the smell of his dearly beloved dark roses.

"Prince Skull," a voice called from behind him, amusing the Prince as he had wished for company. Glace had proven to be just the kind of company he had desired. She was not the kind to poke into his personal life, but talk just enough to keep the otherwise silent Prince entertained.

"Ah Lady Glace," he said, smiling for her. "What can I do for you?"

_He's so gentle. _Glace thought mentally. _I wonder why everyone is so afraid of him._

"Nothing much. I-I have question though," she said, stammering a bit.

"Go ahead," he urged, sitting down beside her. They were near a pond of crystal blue water. Vines of black and red roses were growing all around, their thorns intertwined into a complex structure of deadly daggers.

"They call you prince Skull," she started, avoiding his penetrating gaze. "I suppose your father is the king."

Skull gave out a laugh, a short, low and hollow one. "No, I don't have a father."

"Oh," she said, trying to cover up the question quickly as this subject was bringing her memories of her own father. "I suppose you have a mother then."

"No," he answered flatly. "I am the only ruler to this kingdom."

"Then why do they call you Prince?" she asked. "I believe you should be the king."

"There is law here that a Prince will not be eligible to be called a king until he is eighteen," he informed her. "This rule existed in all kingdoms once. But most Prince and Princesses changed it once they took the throne. I didn't."

"Why is that?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going. She swished her tail and looked him in the eye. She observed the same lifelessness in them, like their owner was devoid of emotions.

"History is a mysterious thing," he said, looked at the sky, observing the cloud. "The more you read into it, the more it leaves you wondering. I kept it the same to honor our history. The Darkus history." He finished with a smile on his face. He stayed there with Glace by the pond in awkward silence, looking at the clouds that had dominated the sky, blocking out the sun. Light shone down in certain spots through the cracks the clouds, giving the Darkus garden a mysterious and sinister vibe to it.

"Prince Skull?" Glace broke the awkward silence. He tilted his ears in her direction, signaling her to speak her mind.

"When did you evolve into an Umbreon?" She looked down in the pond and spotted a few Goldeens and luvdics swimming together in spirals, churning the water around them. She smiled. The Umbreon Prince sure had a lot of effort put into his garden to make it look like a vision of peace and not eternal damnation.

"I was ten," he said slowly, following her gaze to the luvdiscs.

"That young?" she said, astonished. He nodded his head, faking a smile. The heavy wind ruffled his fur and with it, he was thrown into a memory he had hidden within himself.

**Flashback:**

An Eevee stood near the throne of the Darkus kingdom, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his parents who had gone out to war with the Florasia kingdom. The amount of times the Espeon Queen and the Umbreon King had nuzzled and licked their only child had left the kid to wonder if they were ever coming back. Still, being no older than 10, he was full of hopes and dreams.

Suddenly, the door flew open and an Absol and a Mightyena walked in, depression clear in their eyes. The Eevee was startled and wanted to run away from the big pokemon but calmed himself by repeated his parent's words: _We will always love you._

The pokemon stopped a few meters from him, looking down as they could not look him in the eye after they had failed to save the king and queen.

"Prince Skull," the Absol said, trying to sound reassuring. He was doing a pretty bad of a job at that and instead of consoling the Eevee, he only maddened the kid.

"W-where are-m-mum and D-dad?" he stammered, shifting his gaze from Absol to Mightyena who avoided eye contact and then back to the Absol who looked pale and grim and exhausted all the same.

"They," Absol sighed, trying to go on. "They are no more."

Eevee fell to the ground and burst into tears. His tail and ears went limp and his legs failed to support his weight. The tears began to splatter on the black marble flooring of the throne room, making a soft pattering noise, combined with the sniffles of the crying Eevee. The Absol and Mightyena looked pitifully at the poor kid. He didn't desrve this. Not while he was so young.

To add to this misery, the room went dark and heavy winds began to blow. A black portal appeared on the floor of the throne room, sucking in whatever was above it and then, a mysterious pokemon began to appear out of it. At first, it was only his gold plated head and blood red eyes, gleaming and boring into their souls, followed by his giant silver body and black shadowy wings.

"Leave," he commanded Absol and Mighteyena in a terribly dreadful voice and they obeyed immediately, rushing out of the throne room and leaving the Prince under the presence of the Lord of Cruelty.

Skull screamed in distress. He wanted to leave the room with them. The little kid was too scared without his parents but the legendary would have none of that childish nonsense and with a huge roar, he shut the prince up.

"You must take over the kingdom," he boomed, showing the rest of himself. The portal beneath him vanished and he landed on the throne room's floor, his eyes fixed on Skull and his fixed on Giratina.

"I can't" Skull stammered. "I-I WANT MUM AND DAD!" He whined.

"SHUT UP!" Giratina shrieked and roared, his voice echoing. Skull wanted to just faint and let this fade into a dream but none of that was happening. Not tonight. Giratina shook his head and body, growling in anger. Then he stopped and gazed at the shivering Eevee.

He prepared a shadow ball in his mouth beneath his deadly fangs dripping with blood. He fired it at the defenseless little kid.

Skull was sent flying the opposite direction and slammed into the wall behind. The wall broke with the force and toppled onto his limp body. He was just a kid. He wasn't fit to battle a regular pokemon, let alone a legendary. Yet, Giratina here looked determine to put an end to him. He roared like a savage and swung his tail, smashing it over the broken ruble of remains of the wall. The pieces went flying from the force, Skull along with them. He crashed to the floor again, blood dripping from his forehead. He tried to stand up but his legs were badly crippled from the fall, and he fell right back down, going limp.

The Eevee began to glow a bright white and when the light faded, an Umbreon was lying in his place.

Giratina seemed pleased with himself. "Get up you pathetic little Flesh!" He snarled, leaning over to the Prince lying limp on the ground. Skull raised his head with the little strength and courage he could summon, only to have Giratina roar into his face, giving him a good taste of the foul breath. His head fell down and his body went limp from the impact of the massive moves. All he could do was lie on the ground and try to make out the words of Giratina.

"Now you are fit to rule!" he roared, shaking his black wings and swinging his tail about, breaking the throne room's furniture with every little movement. There were several cracks on the walls around and one was broken.

"Ugh," Skull said, trying to break free from the trance and get up but he felt his faculties deserting him and he closed his eyes. The darkness he had been raised in all his life now consumed him. Giratina gave one last roar which could be heard all across the kingdom, warning everyone of his presence. He gave one last look to the unconscious Prince and then incased himself in his shadowy black wings and vanished.

**Flash back ends**

"Prince Skull?" Glace said, shaking a paw in his face. He had been lost in his thoughts for quite a while. He straightened up, shaking the odd feeling. This was one memory he had never shared with anyone. Not even Absol.

"Sorry about that?" he said, smiling at her. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Glace perked up her ears. The Prince of Darkus had stroked her as a sinister pokemon and she was willing to learn anything she could about him. Only, he wasn't ready to throw his secrets to her. So instead, he lied.

"About the Aurora Empire."

**As promised, now you know Skull's deep dark secret and the reason why he hates Florasia Kingdom.**

**Next chapter will be the war between Blitz and Frere Kingdom. Look forward to it!**


	5. Battle of Blinds

Chapter 5

"Hmm?" Blaze mumbled, opening his eyes after what felt like a long time to the Prince. He wasn't sure if he was still awake. He moved his paw, feeling for the ground beneath him and trying to heave himself up on his legs. _How long have I been lying here?" _He thought. He got up on his wobbly feet, still looking at the ground. He could tell the Sun overhead was too bright and that the morning had arrived. As the memory of the last night regenerated in his head, he wondered if the attacker from last night was lurking nearby. He turned his head about to find himself still by the lake of Aquanesia.

_Upon One summer's morning_

He twitched up his ears, startled. All five of senses sharpened at the sound of the sweet singing voice. He looked around anxiously, searching for the source.

_I carefully did stray_

_Down by the walls of Wapping where I met a sailor gay_

Another sound and he was growing alert by the minute. _Am I hearing voices!? _He exclaimed in his head. There wasn't a single pokemon in sight. Then who was singing this melody? He heard a sound of splash and darted his eyes to the lake where he spotted a light blue smudge among deep blue of the lake water. Was that it?

_My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain old glittering gold_

Blaze narrowed his eyes, trying to catch the figure of the pokemon splashing in the lake but in vain. It was light blue with a sort of yellowish structure around its neck and that's all he could grasp. Its fish like tail was in constant motion, breaking the surface and then disappearing below the waters, making a soothing splashing sound and ripples in the lake with the sweet melody its owner was singing. The pokemon began to swim closer to the banks, singing softly while Blaze just kept staring, dazed and enchanted.

_There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold_

_There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold_

By now, the pokemon had reached the bank and Prince Blaze recognized this pokemon as Aquila, the Vaporeon Queen of the Aquanesia kingdom. He had heard of her but now, he had the pleasure of her company.

"Queen Aquila!" He gasped, and then bowed down in respect. "Your Majesty!" He didn't have to do it, considering he too was royalty and these two were enemies on the borderline but he did it anyway. He had enough trouble last night to go around looking for more.

She giggled a bit. _She has naturally beautiful voice!_ Blaze complimented mentally, then looked up and smiled at the queen. She was looking up at him eagerly, as if it was her first time conversing with a land pokemon, which was true.

"You know who I am," she said and slipped into the lake water. She popped right back out under Blaze's chin, their faces inches apart. "But I don't know you."

Blaze felt his body growing hot but then, it would have seemed normal for a fire pokemon so he wasn't worried about her noticing. He looked into her eyes and saw her looking back into his. _Sirenic! _He thought. She had to have him in under some kind of spell as he wasn't so easily distracted by females.

Finding himself in the abyss, he quickly moved back a few paces and shook his head, trying to fight the lightheadedness he was feeling. _Must have been the long hours of unconsciousness, _he told himself, not accepting the fact that a girl was making him feel this way.

Aquila giggled a bit at his sudden retreat from her, and then moved away from the bank herself, her tail thrashing in front of her. "You gave me an awful lot of fright last night!" She said slowly yet playfully.

"It was you?" Prince Blaze exclaimed, taking a step forward in curiosity.

"Emm hmm," Aquila said, nodding her head once. "So, who are you?"

Blaze shook his head once more, his cheeks growing red in the process. Since he was orange colored, it wasn't very easily visible and thank goodness for him or it would have been plain embarrassing.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said quickly. 'I'm Prince Blaze of the Frere Kingdom. Home of the fire type pokemon."

'A Prince?" she said, tilting her head in the lake. "I see. You're royalty too."

He nodded his head excitedly. "So, may I ask what the Queen of the water was doing up on the surface in the middle of the night?" He raised one eyebrow questionably.

"I was out walking," she said, blinking slowly. "You startled me upon my return so I attacked you. I heard you cry out that you came in peace. I'm terribly sorry if I hurt you."

Prince Blaze shook his head and grinned. "Not at all! You need not worry!" He smiled at her, reassuring her that there was no problem about the last night's incident and he willing to forgive and forget if she was willing to do the same.

"What are you doing here, Prince Blaze?" She asked him, swirling in circles in the water to avoid his gaze. By now, she was sure that her curiosity was putting the prince under an uncomfortable position and it was best to give him some space. Blaze looked down, studying his paws. He himself wasn't sure what he was doing.

"Running away I suppose," he said and gave a deep sigh which worried the water queen for a second but it was quickly replaced by another thought. She ventured floating closer to the bank once more. He was avoiding her gaze but she thought it was ok for now. She thought about it for a moment and then decided to go with it. It would be fun to have royal guests for a while. Besides, the Prince didn't seem to have any previous engagements.

"Come with me to Aquanesia," she offered. At first, he thought it was some kind of trick to capture him. He looked into her eyes and found sincerity in her words. She was being kind, not treacherous. Now, he was sure of it. She was staring back at him and noticed the spark of hope her words had brought to his eyes. It made her feel warm inside for some reason she couldn't quite place yet.

"You mean it!?" He exclaimed, excitement clear in his voice.

Aquila moved away from the bank and slipped into the lake below. Blaze looked around; hoping that she'd pop out in another place but for a few minutes, there was no sign of her. Then, the water began churching and swirling in circles in the centre of the lake and then, a red snake-like pokemon towered over with Aquila sitting securely on his head. He flapped open his giant fins that gave an impression of wings and then swam over to the bank and lowered his head.

"What is this!?" Blaze exclaimed, his breathing growing heavy at the sight of the giant pokemon. It looked like a Gyrados but the fins were an extra addition that he had never heard off.

"It's a Gyrados silly!" Aquila giggled, amused at his astonishment. "He's on a mega evolution! Now, are you coming or not?"

Prince Blaze stood there for a second, his vision fixed on Gyrados and his jaw hanging in awe. He was able to disregard this for now and jumped onto the pokemon's head next to the queen and sat down.

"You might want to hold your breath," She informed him. "But don't worry! It only takes him a few minutes or so!"

To the Gyrados, she said: "Swim to Aquanesia as fast as you can! And extent your fins upwards to shield him from the on lookers!"

The Gyrados gave a roar and then dived below into the blue. Once underwater, his speed was boosted to extraordinary rate, faster than a Zebstrika on a mountainous terrain. He extended his large fins, blocking out the view from either sides of Prince Blaze. At several occasions, he caught a glimpse of the Goldeens, Seakings, Remoraids and Magikarp swimming around him. The pressure of holding his breath was getting to him and he found it impossible to hold it longer. His eyes went wide open when he noticed at the bottom of the lake was a crystal chasm and from its transparent wall, an underwater castle and a pokemon kingdom could be observed. This was all so new to the fire pokemon and left him speechless and baffled beyond words.

The Gyrados entered through the small opening into the crystal chasm and appeared inside where Aquila got off and shook her body, fluffing up her fur. She turned around, only to see Blaze still holding his breath, his face pale with the lack of oxygen.

"You can breathe now!" She said, sweat dropping at the sight. Blaze quickly sucked in a large amount of air into his lungs and gasped.

"I CAN BREATHE!" He exclaimed. Aquila laughed at this. Clearly this Prince had a lot to learn and she was willing to teach him if he was ready to share his stories of the land above, something she never really had a clear idea of because of her attribute.

"Yes, you can," she said, walking away from the waiting Gyrados on the route to the castle. He stood rooted in his spot for a while, taking in the view. The Gyraods snarled at Prince Blaze, snapping him out of his thoughts. He growled back in defense then hurried to follow Aquila. _That Gyrados hates me! _He thought and followed her.

This was a new world to the pokemon of Frere. He noticed that some pokemon, like marshtombs, Totodiles, Kinglers, Golducks, Poliwhirls and other pokemons were walking on their feet. While others such as Remoraid, Goldeens, Starmies, Huntails, Wishcashes, Gorbyss, Basculin and other fish-like pokemon were swimming easily under the fortifications of the xhasm. He darted his eyes to the crystal walls surrounding the kingdom. He could clearly see the world outside the Kingdom of Aquanesia which was immersed deep within the lake. A huge Wailord passed outside the city, giving a loud wail as he swam by, leaving the Prince in a state of awe at the fantastic view of the giant pokemon which was nearly one-fourth the size of the entire kingdom. All this time, Aquila was looking at Blaze, taking in the pleasure of his bewilderment.

The Kingdom was bursting with colors of different seashells, gems, pearls and colorful under water pokemon swimming swiftly around or grumbling down on the ground and going about the streets of the underwater city which were made of pure pearls and marbles! The castle ahead was encrusted with a thick layer of seashells and rare gems which were rumored to be a childhood collection of Queen Aquila herself when she was a princess. All of this failed to dominate his confusion over the fact that he, a land pokemon, could breathe underwater. Aquila had all the answers. All he had to do was ask.

"I believe explanations are in order," he stated, walking easily in steps with Queen Aquila. She smiled at him. Aquila loved teaching and learning new things and it wasn't often she'd run into someone as fascinating and nice as Prince Blaze.

"I can explain alright," she said, walking with him. "You see, we worship Palkia. He is the creator of dimensions and keeps the space stable. In this part of our dimension, he distorted the space, leaving it in this state to allow all pokemon, water or not, to breathe underwater."

Prince Blaze took a while to grasp this but in the end, he understood it perfectly. Palkia had deliberately distorted this part of the dimension to enable pokemon to reside underwater. _Incredible! _He thought. _Legendary pokemon are powerful above all!_

By now, the two of them had reached the castle. Entering the castle, Blaze was introduced to a million kinds of vegetations he had never seen. He couldn't help but run over to them and run his paws over the soft petals. It was an amazing sensation to feel something soft after years of living on hard rock. Aquila smiled from behind. This Prince sure belonged to some faraway place that she was dying to learn of. But for now, she'd have to let the prince get used to his surroundings before she could ask any of her questions.

"Follow me," she said alluringly and he was enchanted once again. She thrashed her tail and took to the water surrounding her and began to swim towards the castle gates. Blaze had to run to keep up and in the end; he ended up chasing after her till they had reached the throne room. The throne room was a brilliant blue with Sapphire pillars inside it, decorated with the rarest types of pearls from Clamperls and the curtains were in constant movements with the waves in Aquanesia. Blaze couldn't hide his excitement.

"You're world is so beautiful!" He gasped. Aquila laughed slightly at this statement.

"I'm sure your world is beautiful too!" She said, sitting down on a bench with velvet cushions, spreading her tail like a mermaid. He took the bench opposite to her, blushing a deep red which again wasn't visible. _Why do I feel this way, looking at her? _He asked himself, looking into Aquila's eyes and watching her stare back into his.

"No, it's not beautiful at all," he grumbled, breaking the eye contact. "It's nothing but rocks and lava."

Aquila sat up, excitement radiating from her face. "Really!?" She exclaimed, flapping her tail in joy. "I'd like to hear more!"

She sounded so cheerful and happy that Blaze wanted to continue with the conversation. It turned out; they both were just as fervent to learn of the others world and this was going to be a long discussion.

**In a desert between Blitz Kingdom and Frere kingdom:**  
It was quiet. Too quiet. The silence in the desert plain had prolonged for hours and not a single pokemon could be seen. They had all deserted the location because they knew of the events the evening sun would bring upon this desert land. In a matter of few hours, the ground would be soaked with blood and littered with dead pokemon who would die in the name of their king and their legendary. By the time of the night, not a single living creature would be found within a 10 mile radius or so. Indeed, a battle ground is the most dreadful sight, even for the merciless desert wanderers, the sandslashes and Geodudes who had forsaken their land and were on migrations to find a new place to reside.

The Sun was low, indicating that dawn was fast approaching. With it, two armies were charging at each other from opposite directions. Two types, two nations, one aim: To obtain their lost royal blood. Both had failed to realize that the royals were not in the possession of the other, but somewhere else entirely. This was unnecessary bloodshed.

From the East side, The Blitz army was approaching, led by Prince Volt. The army consisted of many Luxrays and Menetrics who seemed to be more in number than the others. The remaining were a few Electrivires, a few Gorventulas and a few Eelektross. They each had filed up into their respective species, led by Volt and Pacharisu who walked ahead. The electric pokemon were charging up their powers, running the electrical energy down their bodies, their muscles tensed and hyped for action. The Electrivires were stretching themselves and flexing their arms and legs, ready to squash the first fire pokemon they could get a hold of and then electrocute them to death.

From the west side was the army of Frere approaching. Their army was much larger than that of Blitz kingdom with much tougher looking pokemon. The army was in files of Magmortars, Darmanitans and Ninetales. On the either side of the army, a herd of Rapidashes were marching along while holding their heads high, their sharp horns glinting in the setting sun. The King Arcanine and Fennekin walked a little ahead with a diamond-shape formed around them from the male Pyroars walking on all four side of him for the protection of their king. The female Pyroars followed close behind, their claws sharpened to tear any pokemon from limb to limb. The armies arrived close to the battle area and stopped a few meters away from each other. Volt took a good look at his opponent's force, taking in the view of the dangerous looking fire-types and allowing the tension that prevailed in the otherwise lifeless desert to sink in.

"It doesn't matter if they are more in number right?" Pachirisu stated, looking eagerly up at Volt who was breathing heavily, bracing himself.

"No," he replied. "I can handle this." Deep inside, he knew he came to lose but beating such a huge army would strengthen the image of the Blitz Kingdom so the Prince had a change of heart. He'd beat the Frere Kingdom.

Without a warning, Volt raised the cry to begin the battle. "In the name of Zekrom!" He yelled at the top of his lungs which was followed by passionate howls and cries of the electric pokemon who charged up at the Frere pokemon.

They were not unprepared to say in the least. "In the Name of Reshiram!" They hollered back equally passionate. Both the armies merged into a single crowd and began attacking those of the opposing army.

The Ninetales charged up at the Menetrics, their jaws tight, holding in the flames that threatened to burst out with the smallest of openings. They unleashed the move in the form of Flamethrower towards the Menetrics. They made use of Quick attack and zigzagged between the flames of the ninetales, and tackled them. A few Ninetales foresaw this and jumped in time. Then whirling in the air, they countered with a Flame wheel, hitting several of the Mentrics with the move.

The Luxrays charged their manes with electricity, making them appear twice their actual size, almost the size of the Pyroars in the opposing army. Their mane was now sharp as daggers with the amount of electricity surging through them. With this, they Wild charged towards the Darmanitans, giving them a painful whack with their heads and then electrocuting them with thunderbolts and discharge before any had a chance to regain their posture. Their heavy weight and small legs were partly to blame for the disadvantage.

Arcanine was advancing fast into the Blitz's area of the battlefield, the Pyroars following him. They used overheat and Fire fang on the Menetrics who attempted to stop Arcanine and Fennekin moving ahead. Looking forward, duos of large electrivires were fast approaching.

"Take care of those two!" A male Pyroar ordered four of the female ones. Without needing any further explanation, they charged at the Electrivires, claws ready for quick grasp. Pouncing on to their hard bodies, the Pyroars clung to them, making the heavy beasts fall on their backs. Little else was seen as the Pyroars unleashed incinerate and it's obvious that the two were burnt to charcoal.

Arcanine himself was holding up a flamethrower, moving the beam of fire around to attack the Blitz Pokemon. Many fell on the ground and were crushed under the feet of other pokemons breaking their legs in the process.

In the distance, The Luxrays were dashing towards the Radpidash who were galloping towards them with their heads held high, ready to allow their attacked to grad their necks. The Luxray's relaxed at the sight as they believed their claws would make a quick work of the worthless Rapidashes but as soon as they got close, they realized their folly. The Rapidashes lowered their necks and the Luxray's went headfirst into the horns. The horns pierced the Luxrays straight in the head and they died, dangling from the horns. With a rear and a violent swish of their head and fiery mane, they threw the pokemon in the far distance and charged towards the approaching Menetrics. The Menetrics however, stopped in mid track. Digging their claws into the ground for a firm grip, they unleashed a heavy dose of thunderbolt with all the electricity they had been holding back, electrocuting nearly half of the Rapidash's to death, the rest falling on the desert ground, crippled to death by Darmanitans and Electrivires combating in a fist fight.

The Gorventulas were suffering the most at the hands of the Magmortars who would crush the pokemon under their giant feet and fire them with their canon like arms, burning them to bits before they even reached the pokemon. The Frere army was winning so far with their huge pokemon and their size.

"Your highness!" Pachirisu said, panting for breath as he climbed the prince's head and fired a discharge at a Ninetales in mid air who was going to pounce on the prince with her claws. "We are losing!"

Volt was frustrated. He charged up the electricity in his body one last time and sent thunderbolt in all four directions, hitting plenty of Ninetales and two of the Magmortars and watched them crumple to the ground lifelessly. A few Menetrics were hit but they only benefitted from this using their Lightning rod ability.

"Menetrics!" He growled. 'I'm going after their King! Cover me!"

Volt dashed through the battle field with his quick attack, covering ground and zigzagging through the claws and attacks of other Frere Pokemon. A few Magmortars attempted to shoot him with their Fire Blast moves but the attacks missed Volt completely who was nothing but a yellow blur and it went whizzing around the field until few of the Gorventulas were badly hit. They fell to the earth in excruciating pain, crying for help from the pokemon who were too ignorant to give any.

"King Arcanine!" The male Pyroars exclaimed, attacking a few approaching Electrivires with their hyperbeam which send them flying half way across the battle field. They were up on their feet in a matter of seconds and turning around, they fired Thunder shock at the King and his guards.

A pyroar was badly hit and he collapsed on the ground, leaving the king with fewer protectors surrounding him. By now, he had lost two of the male Pyroars and three of the female ones who had dispersed in the chaos, fighting the Menetrics. This was alarming.

"I'm calling reinforcements!" Arcanine growled. He stopped dead in his track from running. The Pyroars stood around him, using Flame wheels to keep all the pokemons away. Arcanine dug his claws into he ground below that was now soaked with blood. Closing his eyes, he looked into the sky and howled loudly. The voice could be heard for miles. The Blitz Pokemon stopped, listening for what was coming their way. They heard the ground rumbling followed by faint growls and grunting and then, above the hillside, they could see a small battalion of Charizards approaching from the air! A last resort had been pulled up!

King Arcanine had this batch waiting in case they needed extra help. The Charizards hovered high in the sky and showered fire using Flamethrowers at the Blitz Pokemon who began to run around for their lives, giving up hope. Volt noticed his army members retreating. Frustrated beyond his temper, he quickly gave orders.

"Eelektross! Electrocute them!"

The Eelektross went on ahead and dodging the fire showers, they unleashed their thunderbolts towards the sky, catching a few Charizards off guard in the mid air. The held up the thunderbolt for a few minutes and when they finally released it, the Charizards crashed to the ground, crushing a few Menetrics under their weight. The remaining Charizards were soaring through the air, firing the fire balls whenever they had a chance and flying through the electrical moves fired upwards in their direction from the Eelecktross. The battle that ensued between these two pokemon was the fiercest and neither side showed any sign of declining in strength, stamina or speed.

Prince Volt gave out an aggravated howl, sending bolts of electricity into the ground around him. A few combatants felt the vibe below their feet and knew that worst was yet to come.

"Pachirisu! Back off now!" he ordered and the pokemon got down from his head, knowing that Volt was going to try something reckless. "And tell the Menetrics to advance towards the Pyroars!"

Volt shook his entire body and stretched his paws and closed his eyes. Then he ran an intense amount of electricity rush through his veins and into his fur, sharpening it into many swords.

When he opened his eyes, he looked murderous. In a flash, he jumped into the sky and dove for the ground below, digging his way down and out of sight of any of the other pokemon. Digging about, he began to feel for the heavy footsteps he would recognize. He knew that Arcanine was surrounded by many Pyroars and their stepping would be the loudest combined with those of the Menetrics close by, ready for the attack. He was right. In matter of a few minutes, he could almost feel a royal presence above him.

Without wasting another second, he dashed upwards, his back first towards the surface and emerged right below King Arcanine, his sword like fur slicing into the King's belly and to his heart. The Pyroars gasped as they were caught off guard when their king was attacked and the Menetrics seized the opportunity and used thunderbolts on the Pyroars, electrocuting them until they fell down and fainted from the shock.

Arcanine lay on the ground, bleeding and gasping for air. His body was burning with pain but he had known this from the start so he wasn't going to waste his time question his life. He looked up at volt whose fur was stained with his blood.

"W-What did we e-ever do to y-ou?" Arcanine asked through his gasps. Volt smiled down at the dying king. "A-all I wanted w-was my B-brother."

"Same old questions," he snarled, showing his fangs. Then he bit the bleeding king in the neck, giving him a sharp slash. Arcanine struggled like a mad dog, thrashing his hind legs and paws wildly in pain for a good 10 minutes, and then his body went limp. Volt released the dead King from his jaws, panting for breath, blood dribbling down from his fangs. He looked down at his accomplishment. Arcanine was lying lifeless at his feet with blood pouring out of his jaws, his eyes closed and his wounds on the belly and neck still bleeding with fresh blood. Volt howled like a victor that he was.

A cry was raised in the Frere army that the king had been killed. Immediately, there was an outbreak of movements as the fire pokemon began to retreat the battle field, running for their lives and leaving behind their injured. The Blitz pokemon stopped their attacks and returned to their camps.

"Your Highness!" Pachirisu said, catching up with Volt. He stopped low on his knees, panting for breath while at the same time, trying to avoid his eyed from the horrible vision of the dead Frere King who died a gruesome death. "Shall we proceed into Frere Volcano?"

"No," Volt said sternly. "If Sapphire indeed is in Frere Kingdom, I do not want her back. We return and inform the king that she wasn't here after all."

Pachirisu couldn't help but pity the poor King Arcanine who died only trying to retrieve his brother while Prince Volt had led the entire battle go in vain, sacrificing the lives of many, all for a want of common sense. He shook his head and followed the Prince like the little royal advisor he was, never to have his own voice.

**Here you guys go! The chapter with the battle between two armies!**

**I don't own the song Aquila was singing. It's called 'Jolly Sailor Bold' from 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' One of my favorite movie series!**

**For your ease, I added a list of kingdoms and their respective types that are introduced or mentioned so far. The others will be added to the story soon!**

**Frere=Fire**

**Blitz=Electric**

**Florasia=Grass**

**Aquanesia=Water**

**Aurora=Psychic**

**Stardust=Fairy**

**Darkus=Dark**

**Glacier=Ice**

**Aerial=Air**

**Fossil=Ground**

**Leave a review and tell me how you like it. This is the first time I actually described a war in any of my stories. It took me 3 hours and a broken back to get this down, not to mention, the pressure of my examinations. So I'd appreciate it if you review this. Thanks. **


	6. Life is Hard

**Chapter 6**

**Meanwhile in Aquanesia:**

"I fail to understand your enthrallment with the underwater vegetation," Aquila sighed, walking along with Prince Blaze who was running around excitedly, inquiring about each type of flower he encountered. Blaze had spent his entire afternoon with Aquila all the while his brother was at war with the Blitz kingdom. They had talked about the Volcano of Frere and its landmarks of lava and extremely hot climate. Then they talked about his carefree life despite his royal status and Aquila had explained him her royal life of a Queen.

If Prince Blaze would have his way, he could have spent his entire life in Aquanesia. He had found it to be a wondrous heaven of freedom seekers, including him. No royal duties or responsibilities. The kingdom was safe. It was highly unlikely that the land pokemon knew how to swim and reach the city and even when they did, the city could always close their entrances.

Turning his attention to Aquila, he trotted up to her to join her, a big smile on his muzzle.

"We don't have these flowers in my kingdom," he told her. "I believe I told you before. I come from the far away land of the volcano of Frere. Its east of Blitz Kingdom and built on the igneous rock formed from the cooling of lava. Plants cannot grow on our hard grounds."

"You travelled from so far?" She asked, astonished. "What purpose did it serve you?"

Blaze sighed. This is exactly the question he had been trying to avoid since the moment he set his eyes of Aquila. He wondered if his brother was currently in the battle against the kingdom Reshiram had told them about. He quickly shook away the feeling, trying not to regret his decision.

"Freedom," he told Aquila, looking down at his feet, his paws making a soft thudding sound on the pearl grounds on the kingdom's gardens. He certainly didn't have such a well-furnished flooring back in Frere. In fact, he vaguely remembered a few rough edges he had accidently sliced open his paws over in an attempt to run over them.

"Freedom?" Aquila asked, perplexed. "From what?"

"War," he told her solemnly. "My brother is the king of Frere who succeeded after our late father. He is currently at war with another kingdom."

"You didn't want to fight?" She asked, more puzzled by the answer. "Do you not feel pride in defending your kingdom?"

"It's not about pride," he argued, sitting down on one of the giant seashell benches. He observed the plants grown around the bench. He moved his paws over the soft petals and plucked a few by accident. He wasn't used to delicate things. "I just don't want to take up my royal duties. I wonder how you put up with it."

"It wasn't a choice," she replied, taking the spot next to him and studying her fish-like tail. "After my parents died of a contagious illness, I was forced to take up the position and become queen."

"Oh," he said, trying to look sincere. "I'm sorry."

"It's no issue," she said. "So tell me, what else is out there above the water."

"There is Aerial kingdom," he replied, introducing a new kingdom now beside his own. "Has the Queen ever heard of it?" She smiled and shook her head and he went on to explain.

"It's the kingdom of the flying type," He explained. "Just like your kingdom is below the lake, it exists high in the sky, only to be reachable by the pokemons who can fly. Our Frere kingdom is in alliance with it."

"I see," she said. "I suppose it's beautiful."

"I wouldn't know that," he replied. "Even with our alliances, we were never granted permission to enter the kingdom itself. I do know that Aquanesia is an exquisite beauty. Especially the towers."

Aquila giggled. He had just complimented her architect without knowing. "I built them myself."

His eyes widened. "Really? With the work of your own hands?" He asked leaning in a bit. He hadn't expected Aquila to be the labor type. Rather, he considered her more of a lavish type, given her beauty that had captivated him since the moment he met her.

"When I was an Eevee," she explained. "I was allowed to roam the palace. I collected the seashells and rare stones that I found and called them my 'personal treasure.' I protected them with my life. When I was appointed queen, I had the towers built a day after my coronation and adorned with my own personal treasures. Some were merely shells while others contained mysterious powers."

"Mysterious powers you say?" he blinked, confusion replacing the fascination he had felt earlier. She nodded her head.

"You remember the Gyarados?' she asked. He nodded his head in response. "I exposed him to one of the stones and he turned into a mega gyarados."

"I have heard in history," Blaze informed her. "about special stones that can awaken special powers in certain pokemon. I suppose they are called mega evolution stones. We found one in Frere but we never discovered which pokemon it belonged to because none of the exposed pokemon evolved."

"I have many others of those sorts," she went on. "I have them in my personal treasury. None of the other pokemon ever evolved from them so I concluded they belonged to the land pokemon species."

Silence fell between the two royals. For a few minutes, the two just sat there, Aquila looking over to the group of small Finneons swimming amongst the anemones. Blaze was looking over to the walls of Aquanesia, his eyes fixed on the giant Wailord passing on the other side of the walls.

"It is almost dusk," Aquila sighed, following his gaze to the wailord. This was the third time the Wailord had passed and Prince Blaze had never once lost his appeal to it. It's not often that you see such large pokemon.

"How can you tell?" Blaze asked. "All I see is the deep blue lake above."

She laughed at this. "I have lived here for so long. I can tell."

"Wouldn't you like to go someplace else?" He asked her, twitching his ears.

"I would dearly," she sighed, looking down. Depression crossed her brows for a fraction of a second but it was enough to catch Blaze's attention. "But I have so many royal duties. Expectations. I don't have time on my hand."

Blaze looked away, thinking back to his own life. Unlike him, Aquila had it hard. He had easily handed the throne to his brother gladly but she, she had to take the throne. _I wonder if she'd come to see the world above the surface with me? _He thought.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Blaze asked Aquila out of the blue, instantly grabbing her attention like a lillipup. "Forsaking my brother at the time of war?"

"To be honest," she answered. "I wouldn't like it if I had a trusted warrior and he abandoned be in a time of need. No matter where you go in this world, you are bound to return home. I just hope it's not too late when you finally decide to."

_She's right. _He thought. _I should go and apologize. I've made a grave mistake!_

"I take my leave now," he said, getting off the seashell benches. She quickly copied his movements and was up on her paws with him. "I suppose I should return to my kingdom."

"You're leaving?" she asked, worried. _I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay. Or take me with you instead. _She thought. _Was this because of what I said?_

"I think I should," He sighed, walking in the direction of the exit to the castle. "I have to return to my brother and apologize for my acts. I just hope he forgives me."

He ran for the door. She quickly ascended into the lake water surrounding them. Her tail caught the movement of the water motion, giving her a speed that a land pokemon could not compete with.

"I'll take you there," she said in her serene, cheerful voice. Then she gave not a loud whistle with her nose. At first, Blaze didn't understand what she was trying to do, then from the opposite direction, he noticed a Mudkip swimming fast in their direction. Blaze panicked in his stepping, thinking the Mudkip was going to smash into him but he stopped right under his nose with such grace that in the end, it was the Prince who lost his balance and fell.

"This is Mudkip," Aquila introduced, trying to control her laugh as Blaze got back up on his paws. "He is my most trusted advisor who accompanies me on expeditions on land. I have another one but he is out for the day. Mudkip can be rather reckless too so don't mind him."

"Pleasure to make your Acquintance…." The Mudkip couldn't go on.

"Prince Blaze," he told him, blinking at the royal advisor. The Mudkip quickly fell into steps, formalities flooding his mind and he got on his knees.

"Your highness," Blaze laughed at the Mudkip and told him to rise.

"Swim as fast as you can and prepare my Gyarados," Aquila ordered him. "Our guest in about to leave."

He nodded once and then swam away quickly in a flurry of bubbles as the two royals began their walk on a much slower pace.

In a matter of few minutes, Blaze was ready to mount onto Gyarados and leave. Aquila was swishing her tail rapidly in anxiety, thinking of what to say in her words of farewell in hopes that the Prince may return to her once again if not stay.

Gyarados lowered his red head, ready to allow Blaze to jump abroad. Blaze took a deep breath, ready to swim for the surface with the giant red dragon.

"Wait!" Aquila yelled, grabbing his attention before he could make the jump. He stopped and turned his head to her, worried about what she had to say.

"Do you promise?" she asked, the depression of the parting clear in her eyes. "Do you promise to come back someday and show me your world?"

Blaze broke out into a smile at this. He had really hoped she would propose this idea. "He nodded his head and grinned. "I will," he promised and hoped on to the Gyarados.

He kept looking back to Aquila and Mudkip who observed as the Gyarados exited the kingdom walls and swam into the lake waters, Prince Blaze holding his breath. He smiled one last time at her and she waved him farewell with her tail, bubbles swirling around her movements.

"If I didn't know any better," The Gyarados snickered. "I think your heart has feelings for my lady."

Blaze felt like punching the Gyarados for making such a statement. A deep red crept up to his cheeks but was hidden under his orange fur once again. Upon reaching the surface, Blaze gasped for air while the Gyarados swam to the shore, depositing his guest on to the ground.

"Hey," Blaze protested, shaking his fur violently to get the water out after being recklessly thrown on the ground like a commoner. "What was that for?"

The Gyarados just turned around into the water and swam for the centre, slowly descending into the lake with every minute. Blaze titled his head at this sudden gesture. _What's wrong with him?_

"Make sure you keep your promise to my lady," The Gyarados warned in a hard and gruff voice without turning to face the prince. But this voice showed more emotions then Blaze had seen previously from the royal servant. "She may not ever admit it but I can tell she fancies you. She has buried all her true emotions behind those cheery laughter and fake smiles. In reality, she has had it hard and I believe you can help her face her inner fears."

Before Blaze could inquire further into the matter, the Gyarados disappeared below the lake waters. The water churched with the movements of his large fin and then, all was silent.

Blaze turned around to depart on his journey back to the Frere kingdom. It would be a long journey. First, he'd have to pass the Blitz Kingdom and then further east to the volcano of Frere were his Kingdom was situated. _I wonder if Arcanine would forgive me. _He thought, running aimlessly into the desert in the east direction.

He thought about Aquila on the way. The scenes of his promise kept replaying into his mind. He was definitely going to come back for her someday. Scurrying mindlessly, the Prince felt a warm feeling build up inside of him, making him feel lightheaded. There was a sudden skip to his step and whatever the reason of joy may be; the only thing he could keep straight was the thought of the magnificent and generous Queen Aquila. A smile broke out on his muzzle as he covered more distance without noticing. He had now reached the hilly areas which marked the beginning on the Blitz Kingdom. The kingdom was still a long way, but much closer now.

_Is this what love is? _He questioned himself, smiling like he had beaten the toughest warrior of an army in a battle; not that he would be happy to do that since he wasn't the fighting type. _Gosh she was so beautiful and her voice! Ahh! I await the day I would hear it again!_

Suddenly, the reality took its grip on his thought and shook his head. _I can't think of her that way! She's a queen. I am but a Prince! _Feeling a little depressed, he climbed over the low hills and leapt forward, finding his way around.

The journey had been a quiet one for now but the silence was to break soon. Prince Blaze heard a strange clicking noise. Alert, he perked up his ears and listened hard, taking up a battle stance while he was at it.

His heart did a sudden jump when the noise got harder and he recognized it as a Rapidash's hooves. A rapidash jumped from behind a hill and galloped in his direction. Prince Blaze started towards the Rapidash and halted right in his path. He stood up on his hind legs, making the Rapidash rear with aloud neigh as he recognized the lost prince.

Regaining his posture, the Rapidash bowed to the Prince who was in no mood for a formal greeting. He cut to the chase. "What are you doing here?"

"Fleeing your highness," The rapidash reported in a hasty voice filled with fear. "We had a war against Blitz Kingdom! King Arcanine was killed!"

At the sound of his brother's name, Blaze's eyes widened. For a second, he couldn't contain himself, refusing to accept it as truth. He quickly snapped himself out of it and leapt up on to the Rapidash's neck. Digging his claws into the off-white neck of the horse, he made him rear and give out a loud neigh in pain.

"Head for Frere! Now!" Blaze ordered angrily and the Rapidash took off in the direction he had come from, galloping wildly while keeping his horn down in defense. Blaze peered from between his fiery mane, his eyes fixed on the grounds that kept expanding with every second. He kept his eye out for any bodies that would indicate the location of the battle field.

In the next hour with the aid of the Rapidash, he reached the battlefield which he immediately recognized by the horrible envision of the aftermath. Blood stained bodies of pokemon littered the desert, electric and fire alike. Blaze wanted to throw up at the view. He quickly leapt off the Rapidash who fled around, away from the battlefield, only this time, in the direction of Frere.

Quickly scampering around like a mad Mightyena, Blaze darted his eyes from pokemon to pokemon, trying to avoid the horrible vision of death all the while, searching for Arcanine.

It wasn't long either. Somewhere between the dead Pyroars, he found the body of his brother. Tears well up in his eyes the instant the sight came into view.

Blaze staggered, ready to fall to his feet but managed to keep himself upright as he slowly made his way to his brother, bathed in blood with his eyes closed. The wound on his neck was quite large and still fresh. Stepping into the small puddle of blood around his brother, he looked closely.

'Arcanine?" He mumbled, moving closer. He put his front paws onto the dirty mane of the king and shook his neck. 'Come on, get up."

Not ready to accept his brother's death, he grabbed hold of Arcanine's ear in his teeth and pulled hard. "You have to get up! You promised to be there for me!" He screamed, tears now flooding down his face like an everlasting waterfall. He brought his muzzle close to Arcanine's face, sniffing for his scent. All he could smell was the blood.

Blaze broke out, howling in grief. He rolled beneath Arcanine's lifeless paw and snuggled close to his body, weeping. The fact that his fur was now covered in his own brother's blood crossed above his mind. The only thing he could grasp was that his brother was gone for good and it was all his fault.

"I-I'm so s-sorry!" H sobbed, nuzzling his dead brother. "If only I stayed! You would have been still alive!" His tail fell limp to his side and his eyes were as red as the blood that had stained the grounds from crying hard. He didn't even remembering crying this hard on the sad demise of his own father and mother.

He laid there for what felt like forever to him until he heard a low moan. It was a female voice, begging from help. Collecting himself, he stood up and crept out from beneath his brother's paws and looked about, searching for the owner of that voice. It sounded indistinctly familiar but all the coughs between the pleas for help kept it under question.

"Hello," he mumbled weakly, staggering around the area, looking for the person.

"Prince Blaze?" The voice rasped, misery clear in its coughs. Blaze's eyes widened. He quickly hurried around in the direction of the voice, searching frantically for his best friend. He recognized the voice. It was Fennekin.

He found her lying wounded on the field. A manetric laid next to her, his paw stretched out over her tiny body as if he had attempted to protect her when the grand finale came. Blaze hurried to her side and lowered his head, nudging her pale pace as she lay with her eyes closed. He wanted to pull her away from the Manetric.

'Fennekin! Please tell me you are alright?" he said, continuously nudging her with his nose. She opened her eyes slightly and looked up at the Prince and saw how worried he was for her. For a second there, the barrier between a servant and a royal vanished and she felt equal to him.

'You came back!" she said in her weakened state, struggling to get the few words out. 'The fight wasn't in vain after all!"

He breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of her voice. He pulled her out from beneath the manetric's grasp. Using the force of his body, he tried to help her on her paws.

"He helped me," she said, looking down at the dead manetric.

"Why do we have to fight like savages in the name of the royals? Can't we all just live like pokemon that we are?"

"Those were his last words," She sobbed as she quoted him. Blaze moved his paw over to the Manetric and closed his open eyes in respect, humming a silent prayer for him from Reshiram.

"The King thought the Blitz had you in captivation," she coughed, staggering on her wounded leg. Fennekin was very badly wounded and her leg was probably broken from the impact of the fall when the Manetric tried to save her from an attack. All this didn't deny the fact that Blaze was happy she was alive. "King Arcanine led the battle against them. And then we were defeated with the loss of our king."

"Blitz shall pay someday," he murmured, leading the Fennekin away from the horrible sight of the dead that surrounded them.

_Sapphire found herself in a strange world. She looked around to find that everything around her was frozen solid. Even the ground below her paws was frozen solid. Fear took birth in her heart which she immediately related to her exile._

_Icy winds began to blow her blue fur and she shivered in cold despite being an ice pokemon herself. The place had an eerie feeling to it and nothing about it seemed right. The only path was the one ahead. She took a step forward and immediately slipped o the frozen ice, smacking her chin hard on the broken ground._

_She tried to get back up with the icy winds pushing her down. She struggled to stay upright on all four. She began to tread carefully along the frozen path between the glaciers that surrounded her._

'_Sapphire," she heard a soothing yet dangerous voice. Her eyes widened and now she couldn't tell if she was shivering from fear or cold. She twitched her ears to left and right, trying to grasp a voice again. She could hear it but it sounded far away for the next couple of minutes. Who else was there in this frozen world beside her?_

'_Sapphire, I'm here," it called. "Come to me."_

_She panicked. She immediately began running down the frozen ice path like a lunatic and slipped. She slid the rest of the way forward, spinning around in circles._

_She lost control of her movements. The harder she tried to stop, the faster she slid across the ice. She screamed in fear and desperation as exhaustion washed over her. She felt dizzy and nauseous and yet, never more alive. It felt like a piece that had been missing from her for a long time had returned to her and now that it was right in front of her, she couldn't feel it in her grasp, nor find it at its roots. It was a strange feeling that could not be put into words._

"_HELP ME!" She screamed into the empty space. She crashed into a frozen glacier that marked the end of the path and hit her head hard against the frozen ice, falling limp on the ground. She laid there for a few minutes, letting the pain die out before she attempted to get back up._

"_Sapphire, get up," the voice commanded, louder than ever. She snapped her eyes open, all her senses sharpening at that voice. That voice? She had never heard it. Yet, it felt like it was as much part of her as she was of it._

"_You must get up, Princess," The voice ordered. She staggered to her feet wobbly, and then looked up at the Glacier. The voice seemed to be coming from the giant Glacier on the dead end._

_She shook her head and looked at the glacier. It was larger than the rest that she had seen earlier before her memory had gone blur._

"_SAPPHIRE!" She heard someone yell out her name.. Her heart jumped up in her throat at the sound of the voice. It was plain horror to be subjected to this and at the same time, to shield the truth that she needed to know._

_A loud thud from the other side on the Glacier made her squeak. She jumped back; apparently ready to dash off back in the direction she had arrived. Only then did she realize that there was someone inside the Glacier, not the other side; probably trapped or incased in its ice walls. Letting her curiosity be her guide, she slowly treaded towards the Glacier._

"_Hello?" she mumbled, stuttering with her voice. "Who goes there?"_

_Another loud thud was heard and she took another step back. She saw a giant hand against the crystal walls of the Glacier from the other side. Shock was written all over her pretty features by now._

_The grey claws on the hand alone were far larger than her entire body. They scaled down, making a loud piercing sound against the frozen ice as it cracked under the force applied on it. Sapphire put her paws up and brought her ears down against her face, trying to block out the dreadful voice._

'_Sapphire, you must come to me," he ordered, removing the hand. It disappeared behind the Glacier. Forgetting her fear, Sapphire rushed towards the glacier and put forth her own front paws, standing up on her hind legs and frantically searching for the owner of the hand. All she saw was frozen ice._

"_Who are you?" she practically screamed the question. 'Answer me! Are you the one who knows the answers to my questions?"_

"_Sapphire," he said, much calmer now, abolishing her fears. "You must find me. You are special. Never forget that."_

"_How can I find you?" She yelled. "Please! I need guidance!"_

_The voice appeared to laugh for a second and that too was hollow, reminding her of the Umbreon prince, Skull._

"_How am I special!?" She asked, pounding her paws on the glacier, demanding answers that no one else could provide her. 'WHAT DOES EVERYONE MEAN BY THAT!?"_

_She was brought to tears. The voice now seemed pitiful._

"_Find me. Quick," he told her, putting forth a single claw and sliding it down on the glacier from the other side. Sapphire followed it with her paw. "You must find me quick Princess! The world depends on you!"_

The scenery around her titled and faded away.

"WAIT! PLEASE!" She called out to the voice she had heard. Everything around her faded and she found herself waking from up from a dream.

Sitting up, she gasped for air, scared to death by the dream. She had remembered every bit of it. The voice, its words, they all haunted her now.

For now, this was least of her worries. She could hear voices of the pokemon outside the room and their manner of speaking was enough to confirm that something in Darkus was wrong.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. I know this chapter may not be as good as the previous ones but the story is just beginning.**

**Next chapter: Another war.**


	7. Battle of Trig

**Chapter 7**

_What on earth is going on? _Glace asked herself, rubbing her eyes with a paw as she groggily walked to the door of her room and opened it. Any sleep left in her eyes was quickly forgotten at the sight of various pokemon running around the corridor from both directions, talking with each other with a solemn expression. She could sense the urgency and suddenly, it just hit her. _Does this mean they are going for war with Aurora kingdom!?"_

Without stopping to recollect the memories of her dream, she dashed to the west side of the corridor towards the main court and then to the throne room. He tail and ears were lashing about wildly, occasionally coming in collision with the pokemon running in the hustle and bustle as they threw and caught various objects that were to be taken along in the battle field.

The sight of the throne room was no different except for the fact that there were much fewer pokemon there. Eight Liepards were standing in a line next to the red carpet that led to the throne. They were sitting with their backs straight, paws held out to be sharpened by the Gardevoirs on a rapidly spinning machine.

Umbreon Prince stood on the opposite corner of the room. A Gardevoir was putting on his gold armor. A golden band was put on each of his ears and tail and gold bands were on his paws too, nearly covering his entire legs except for the upper part. As the Gardevoir moved away to assist the others in sharpening the claws of the noble Liepard, Glace approached Prince Skull. He saw her and gave her a smile, as if reassuring her about his return which was not even what she was worried about.

Prince Skull turned to walk to the balcony to avoid the rage in his throne room. He motioned her to follow him with his tail and she did so, not simply because he was the prince and could not be rejected but because she wouldn't have liked anything else at the moment.

Skull put forth his front paws on the edge of the balcony and leaned forward, breathing in the silence that had fell upon his empire. Glace took her position beside him, only she didn't lean on the balcony but rather kept her four paws firmly on the ground.

"The silence before a war," he commented, smirking. She followed his gaze down to the city below. There were very few pokemon in sight from that altitude. The activity in the kingdom was the usual busy one. In fact, the city sort of looked abandoned with the little number of pokemon that could be seen.

"You said you were worried about the Aurora kingdom," she said, trying to mind her causality with the Prince. She had to keep her expressions straight while conversing with him.

"Yes, I am," he said. "They are the kingdom of Psychic types. I am worried about Lady Esperanza."

"Who is this lady Esperanza you speak of?" She asked, looking at the Prince now. His gaze was still fixed to the city below. Outside the castle, she could already see the army nobles assembling themselves to march to the battlefield.

"Esperanza was a royal friend of mine," He told her, stealing her attention from the gathering army. "There was a time when I was in love with her and she was in love with me," He paused and sighed.

Glace waited for him to go on, but when he didn't, she concluded that it was all he was willing to offer on the subject. She tried not to inquire deeper into the story despite her curious nature. She hadn't filled him up on her past. The least she could do was respect his. She sealed her queries in her heart.

"I would like to make a request," she said, turning to look down just like he was.

"Oh," he replied. "What does lady Glace please?"

"I would like to accompany you to the battlefield," she said sadly. She had no experience in fighting but yet, she wanted to see Lady Esperanza in person. Somehow, this queen clicked in her mind.

"You do know that it is extremely dangerous and highly unadvisable for a lady," he said, blinking at her request like she had just offered to eat a kidney. For the first time ever, Glace had managed to baffle the Prince.

"Yes, I do know that," she replied a little aggressively but he decided to let it pass. The gravity of the situation didn't leave any allowance for a personal argument. "I would still like to go with you."

He stared at her, his eyes boring into hers. For a second, she was absolutely sure that he was going to reject this request but then, his expression softened and he nodded. "Yes, you may come. But you must stay by my side."

Glace felt a brush creeping up to her cheek. She quickly activated the icy powers in her and froze the veins in her face before they could carry the blood to her cheeks and show a vivid red on them. Because of the same reason, she couldn't smile up at him either and she simply nodded, making him believe that she was serious about the situation altogether, which he ended up admiring silently within himself.

Almost an hour later, Prince Skull, accompanied by Glace on his left and Absol on his right and the Liepards, was walking towards the army. After reaching in the front line, they began to walk outside the city.

"How do you know they are coming to fight you?" Glace asked.

"A member of our army spotted them advancing towards are territory from the Northern side," he told her, looking ahead to the plains. He walked much faster than usual and the warriors behind him copied his movements. "We are moving in defense. If we don't fight now, I'm afraid they might move to our kingdom to conquer it altogether and add it to their territory."

Glace didn't ask any further questions. The walk seemed to take hours to reach the battlefield. At first, they were walking along on the desert plains. Slowly, Glace began to feel the ground below her paws growing soft and moist and she could see little signs of vegetation. This was new to the Glaceon who had spent her entire life in the desert regions of the Blitz Kingdom and later Darkus kingdom.

Soon enough, the vegetation began to grow and she found herself to be walking on a grassy prairie. The feeling of the soft grass below her paw pads was soothing. Wide grasslands stretched for miles ahead of them, their end only to be marked by the growing hills which marked the beginning of the Aurora Kingdom's territory. It was a shame that such a beautiful prairie was going to be showered with blood by the end of the the day.

Prince Skull knew that these grasslands were much more beautiful and lush on the other side but that was the territory of his former love. He had visited the Aurora kingdom often but that too, was a really long time ago. That was when he and Queen Esperanza were together. He sighed as an image on her face drifted into his mind.

The Darkus army consisted mostly of mightyenas, houndooms and Bisharps. Other than this, there were a few numbers of Zoroarks and Mandibuzz as well. The army wasn't a very large one but given its pokemon, it looked fir enough for a war.

Prince Skull's gaze was fixed on the horizon where he knew that Aurora kingdom's army was approaching. Glace followed the direction of his gaze and narrowed her eyes. It was faint, but she could see a large number of pokemon approaching.

Soon enough, she could make out the pokemon that were approaching. The pokemon she saw were not psychic type, but actually an entirely different type altogether. Glace darted her eyes around from left to right in hopes of catching at least on psychic type amongst them but there were none.

The Aurora army was entirely made of ice pokemon. The most prominent of these were the Froslass, poloswine ad Beartics. A few larger ice-types such as Abomasnow and Aurorus could also be seen dotting the giant group here and there. Just like the Zoroarks in the darkus army, these were very few in number.

"How come they are not psychic?" Glace turned her head to Skull to ask him.

"The Aurora kingdom is united with Glacier kingdom by a bond stronger than friendship," he said, slightly amused. He hadn't expected less. 'Marriage."

"Marriage?" Glace said, perking up her ears in confusion.

"Em hm," he replied. "Queen Esperanza is married to the Glacier Kingdom's king. Since Psychic type in immune to our dark-type abilities, she adopted the strategy to 'borrow' an army from Glacier kingdom."

The way he said 'borrow' made is sound despicable. Prince Skull would have been impressed if Aurora kingdom hadn't been so dependent. Then again, it wasn't very surprising because Queen Esperanza always did depend of Skull for her protection.

The armies now stood facing each other, each of the pokemon ready for a brutal kill or a gruesome death, which ever may they achieve first.

It was Absol who led out the battle cry. "In the name of Giratina!"

The Darkus army immediately fell upon the Aurora army. The noises and cries were released and the pokemon attacked each other like vile outlaws.

The Mightyenas charged towards the poliswines and Beartics, hoping to make a quick kill with their jaws and claws. A mightyena pounced on to a beartic but was immediately caught in mid-air by the giant and swung back into his comrades. The collapsed on the grassy terrain but were immediately up and this time, attacking with their claws out front.

Three of them attacked a single beartic. He managed to grab hold of one of them but the other two were on his back, clinging to him and digging their claws into his white fur, staining it with the bright red that oozed out from the fresh wounds. One of them bit him hard in the neck. The Beartic howled and shook himself violently, trying to overthrow the Mightyena but he was successful in putting an end to him.

The Piloswine were charging towards the Bisharps, steaming puffing out of their noses in aggression. The agile pokemon made a few swift jumped and landed on the backs on the Piloswine, riding them around the battlefield. All efforts to throw the Bisharps off were in vain and they kept swiping them with metal claws, making a quick kill of many of them in the first few minutes of the fight.

A single Piloswine was able to use earthquake, causing the ground below the Bisharps to break. The fell into the giant crack that opened in the ground which was snapped close, crushing few of Bishraps to pieces and then burry them into the ground. A few manage to jump in time to avoid falling in the crack and landed back down just when the crack disappeared. The only thing left of the dead bishraps was the small puddles of blood that had gushed out of their bodies when they were crushed.

Meanwhile, the houndooms had tacked the froslass. They attacked the forslass with a dark impulse, aiming at them from a few meters away but their attacks were quickly rendered useless by the forslass's frost breath which froze their moves in mid air and shattered them into broken ice. The frosslass dashed towards those houndooms, a giga impact ready at their fists. The Houndooms made a swift dodge, then grabbing the Froslass by their lower part of kimono with their teeth; they slammed them face-first into the ground and began to dig their jaws into their throats. A single Froslass was able to manage a Blizzard, causing the Houndooms to fall back on their heels and allowing a few of the forslass to recover. They further countered with ice beams, freezing those houndoom on spot into solid ice.

The Zoroaks and Abowmasnow were head on head with each other, their claws intertwined with each other as the brutes tried to overthrow each other. A Zoroak overthrew and Abomasnow on his back. The overwieght pokemon couldn't get up, giving the Zoroark and opportunity to finish him off with a Night Slash. At the same time, another Zoroark was head to head with an Abowsnow. The Abowsnow gave a deadly blow to the Zoroark, causing him to retreat. The Abowsnow unleashed a wood hammer. The Zoroark fell to the ground but with his agile movements, he was able to swipe his legs below the Abowsnow's feet, causing him to stumble forward onto the grounded Zoroark. He held up his claws which were immediately plunged into the Abowmasnow's heart as he fell on the Zoroark, crushing him to death under his weight.

Prince Skull was advancing fast into the Aurora territory, striking a serious blow with his dark impulse on the attackers. Glace on his side was using ice shards as much as she could to throw off most of the attackers but her moves were hardly any good. The liepards ran alongside their king, using hone claws and aerial ace on the Aurora army pokemon to get them out of their way in order to keep moving forward

_Where is she? _Umbreon Prince grumbled, gritting his teeth as he let loose a night slash onto a beartic. He signaled to the Liepards to disperse into the battlefield, leaving him and Glace alone together in the middle of a chaotic situation.

Absol had fallen far behind when he decided to take down an Aurorus who had managed to kill 3 of the Liepards that were accompanying the group. Currently, he was at the pokemon with the blade on his head plunged deep into the Aurorus's neck. The Aurorus died on spot and Absol landed easily on his paws as the giant pokemon fell to the ground with a heavy thud, shaking the ground under his weight and causing a few combating bisharps and froslass to love their balance.. Absol dashed around the field, killing many pokemon as he searched for Prince Umbreon.

On the other hand, Skull and Glace were still running around the battle field, searching for someone apparently only Skull know of.

Out of nowhere, Skull felt a sharp pain begin to form inside his head. The pain grew to an excruciating level, forcing him to stop.

"AHHH!" He cried, kneeling on his front paws and closing his eyes tightly. It was illogical because so far, no pokemon had been able to even touch him, let alone wound him.

Glace leaned herself over to the Prince anxiously. "Prince Skull! Are you alright?!"

He howled in the unexplainable pain, a paw to his head as he tried to feel for some kind of cut on the back of his neck. He gave himself several scratches with his own claws while he knelt from the growing pain. Glace put forth her paw on his, moving it away and pushing the Prince to lie down.

The Liepards, noticing their prince, came to his defense and surrounded him in a circle, keeping the attackers away. They unleashed hyper beams and held up their moves, moving it around to the pokemon outside the circle they had formed around Skull and Glace.

"Ahhh," Skull groaned, trying to fight the pain and to get back up on his feet to fight. He managed to open one eye to grasp a vision of his surroundings. A beartic from the opposite side jumped over the Liepards and charged towards Glace. She used ice shards but to no avail.

Glace screamed as she saw the Beartic fast approaching her, ready to rip her body to pieces. She turned her head and brought her to her face and screamed one last time.

At the sound of her voice, Skull was immediately up on his feet and he tackled the Beartic with Assurance, throwing him off far into the distance. The Liepards quickly finished him off with Night slash, leaving him to bleed to death.

"Thank you," Glace managed to stutter from her fear as he helped her to her paws. The pain returned and he fell on his knees once again.

"Prince!" Glace shrieked, leaning over to his face. She tried to keep him from falling on his side.

"_UMBREON!" _Skull heard a voice inside his head. His eyes widened at the sound as he recognized who it was. Glace noticed this too. Her brows furrowed with anxiety for Prince Skull.

The Madibuzz were hovering in the sky, darting their eyes for the enemy pokemon. The first ones they saw were the Aurorus giving the Bisharps a hard time. The Bishraps attacked with their blades at the necks. The Aurorus countered with ancient power and the ground below them crumpled, blowing them back with the massive force of the dirt and rocks from underneath the grass. The leader of the madibuzz troops gave a signal to his fellow members. Spinning rapidly in the air, they showered down on the Aurorus like arrows using their air slash. The aurorus craned their necks to dodge the approaching birds. A few were completely depleted of their powers and fell on their sides. The beartics at their feet fled for their lives but many were crushed under their weight while their enemies, the Zoroarks and Bisharps were immediately recued by the Mandibuzz who grabbed them by the shoulder with their talons and flew them to safety.

Umbreon prince Skull was still under the painful dilemma. He kept trying to get back up and fight but his body refused to, almost as if someone had gained control of it.

"_Umbreon! Have you forgotten me?" _The voice in his head spoke again. There was a hint of cheerfulness in that voice, enshrouded in hatred and despair and hopelessness.

"Esperanza?" Skull thought in his head, hoping that she could hear him with the telepathic control she had built with him which allowed her to control his movements and even give him a severe headache which could possibly explode his head. He had seen her do it before but he had always lived in the confidence of the fact that she could never muster the courage to kill him. Now, he was not so sure.

"_You remembered me. How sweet of you!" _She giggled again, the voice booming in his head. He tried to avoid her sarcastic remarks and mocking.

"_Where are you? Esperanza?" _He asked her, his body shivering with the pain that now ran along his back and down to his feet. Glace was terribly worried and was now kneeling over while the Liepards shielded him.

"_Could it be that you're afraid of facing me." _He mocked her. The pain was increased to higher levels and he led out a cry of pain. Glace winced back at his outburst but was quickly at his side, tending to him by gently massaging his shoulders. She had no idea how relaxing it felt to the Prince.

"_I am not afraid of you," _Esperanza said in his head. _"Look up."_

He felt himself regaining his strength. She loosened her psychic grip on him, allowing him to regain his composure. He slowly rose to his feet and raised his head, looking over to the hills. There, on the edge of a cliff, he saw Esperanza. She was standing alone, her fur blowing back with the wind and tail and ears swishing with their movements. She smirked when Skull caught her looking over, enjoying the view of death below.

She wore a silver chain with a ring in it around her neck and her smile was a rather devious one. Skull immediately recognized the ring. She read his mind.

"_You recognize this ring don't you Skull?" _She said, speaking in his head again telepathically. _"It is the ring of promise you gave me when you promised to marry me and only me."_

"_That was a long time ago!" _He yelled at her in his thoughts, frowning at her from below the grounds. A Froslass tried to tackled Skull. His instincts acted up and he blew her back with his shadow ball, and then diverted his attention to Queen Esperanza once more.

He saw that her eyes were no longer looking at him, but the one to his right. He turned his head to see Glace, looking at him, confused. _What is the matter with him? _She thought to herself. _One moment he is fine and the next, he's drowning in pain!_

"_Who is she?" _Esperanza asked telepathically in a soft tone with a hint of harshness and jealousy. Skull couldn't have missed it if he wanted to. It was one of the things he clearly remembered about Esperanza. Her jealousy when any other female was around him. Thinking back to those times almost made him want to smile. Almost.

Skull's eyes widened when he saw Glace emitting a strange pink aura that now surrounded her fur. She began to ascend for the skies and Skull understood that it was Esperanza's doing. Glace screamed at what was happening and he started towards her.

"_NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" _He pleaded to Esperanza who was using her psychic abilities to lift Glace off the ground into the skies above. Only, he had accidently said it out loud. Skull tried to make a quick grab at her tail but missed by an inch and the Glaceon was taken high in the sky, all the while she screamed for help. _Why did I bring her! She should have stayed back where it was safe! _He scolded himself.

He ran amongst the battling pokemon around him, his eyes fixed on Glace who was hovering high in the sky. _"DROP HER! PLEASE!" _He pleaded to Esperanza. She didn't answer him.

Esperanza stood at the cliff. She had ceased her conversation with the Darkus prince but was still reading his mind. A tear trickled down her pink cheeks when she realized how concerned he felt for the Glaceon she was so mercilessly carrying in the sky, ready to drop her down to her death from the high altitude. This was how he felt about her once. A tear fell on the ring around her neck, making a soft clicking sound that was drowned out by the noises below.

She brought her paw to her face, wiping the tears that were now flowing down endlessly from her eyes, messing up her luscious pink fur. She lost control of the hovering Glaceon. Gravity took it from there and Glace felt herself descending at an incredible speed.

"HELP ME!" She screamed in the air as the ground closed in, indicating her death was close too. Skull had been anxiously following the flying Glaceon, keeping the same thought in mind for her safety in hopes that Esperanza may read his mind and leave Glace alone.

He dropped to his legs below her and she landed on his back with a loud thud. He winced in pain, hoping that he didn't break his back. Glace on the other hand didn't even have a single scratch on her fur. She got off the Prince quick and kneeled over, checking to make sure he was ok.

'Prince Skull?" She said, nudging his muzzle with her own. It seemed that the Prince had been knocked unconscious as he wasn't really moving. Then slowly, he began to open his eyes and tried to get back up on his feet.

"Are you alright?!" Glace asked anxiously, her eyes widened and filled with concern for the prince. He struggled to his feet with a little pain but other than that, he had managed not to break any of his bones.

"I'm glad you're safe," he said, smiling at her. She couldn't bring herself to believe that even after the massive damage he took to his stretch and stamina in saving her; he was still worried about her safety.

Their moment was cut short when Esperanza raised a cry from the cliff. Skull's head was immediately turned into her direction.

"Forces! Retreat!" She spoke in a loud voice. Although he couldn't see it, he was sure that Esperanza was crying at the moment. Somehow, he had broken her heart. It didn't bother him. It wasn't his first time doing that.

There was a flurry of action as the ice-pokemon began to retreat. Many of them were killed at the hands of the Zoroarks and Mightyena in their attempts to make a silent retreat. The Darkus pokemon were not having any of that. In their defense, a few Beartics and Aurorus were able to freeze the Zoroarks into solid ice, allowing more of their pokemon to escape.

Some of the Aurorus were in such a haste to escape that they crushed many of the Bisharps and Houndooms carelessly, even the ones that didn't attack them. The Madibuzz landed on the blood soaked grass prairie, ready for their meal of the dead pokemon that lay scattered on the ground.

The Battle of Trig came to an end with the victors apparently the Darkus kingdom.

Skull was breathing heavily with his fearful encounter with his ex-fiancé, Queen Esperanza. At the same time, his heart was at peace for the fact that he had managed to protect the Glaceon he saved once.

On the battlefield, Skull knew that Darkus had won. But if hadn't been for the sensitivity of Queen Esperanza, they would have lost for sure. He would have anyway. Spiritually, it was the Aurora kingdom that prevailed over them.

_She really does have the courage to attack me. _He noted. _With powers like that, it is highly likely that she could have killed Glace. Then, why didn't she?_

**Still under pressure with my examinations here but I didn't wanted to disappoint you guys. I tried to get my time down to write this chapter. **

**I hope you like this chapter! I tried to keep the battle interesting and to explain a bit further about Queen Esperanza and Prince Skull.**

**Leave a review and tell me what you think of the Battle of Trig.**


	8. Treacherous Prince strikes again

**Sorry if I took too long with this one. As stated, I had my examinations. Luckily, tomorrow is my last one so I'll go back to my routine of a chapter every three days! **

**Chapter 8**

**In Blitz Kingdom:-**

Volt, carefully taking his steps, walked into the court, gritting his teeth in anger that activated the surge of electricity in his fur. He knew what was coming. The only thing the Jolteon prince failed to understand was the gravity of the situation, the core keeping it all together. The answers lied with Zekrom who had refused to tell them any of it. Walking on the red carpet, his eyes fixed on his father on the far end, he hoped his father would take this fury into consideration this time, rather than be blinded in his quest to bring back Sapphire.

_What is so special about her!? _He grumbled in his head. A crackle of electricity sparked from his fur, indicating this sudden emotion. _If only Zekrom would reveal this little quality of her to me. Up until now, I have decided to let her live. Does it have to end in her death?_

"Volt," King Ampharos said seriously, addressing his son who now sat face to face with his father. The father that had alienated his son in the love of his daughter all his life and even now was just toying around with him to retrieve her. Those thoughts never ceased to flood Volt's mind, reminding him that everything he did to Sapphire was well deserved by her. Hate can be a powerful thing. It is like the mist on the right path, leading you astray.

"Yes, father," he replied bluntly, blinking twice while holding his head high. Pachirisu at his side could sense the tension in the prince. The Luxray warriors were standing beside the throne, three on both sides. They looked stern and expressionless whereas the king looked a bit soft. Still, it was the king that bothered the prince not the killer Luxrays.

"I believe it is time to lead another expedition to yet another kingdom," The king informed his son. Volt, who had already thought up an excuse for this, was waiting for the right moment to spill it out.

"I believe our next target should be Aquanesia Kingdom," The king continued while Volt listened with what he portrayed to be his full attention. He sighed a bit at this suggestion. Water pokemon would be too easy for him to beat. He wanted a challenge if he was going to go waste his time looking for something he wasn't even eager to share a castle with. This was it. The time to spill it out.

"Aquanesia kingdom father?" Volt questioned in a tone that didn't really sound like he was asking. "I believe we should advance to the Aurora Kingdom in the north."

"How so?" The King countered. "Aquanesia is to the west, closest to our kingdom after Frere. It would be the first place she could have reached."

"Yes Father, I see the point," he answered solemnly. "But, the Queen of Aurora Kingdom, Queen Esperanza is of a rather gentle disposition. I believe if anyone would have offered our exiled 'princess' a shelter, it would be her." The way he said 'princess' was despicable. Still, the king failed to detect this.

"Yes, but how could she have known of Sapphire?" King Ampharos asked yet again. Volt sighed internally, thinking how his father still failed to grasp the point. The reason why he had suggested Aurora Kingdom was because he himself believed that Sapphire was in Aquanesia kingdom. He didn't want to advance on a kingdom they could easily defeat, then have his army suspect him of treachery when he would refuse to advance into Aquanesia kingdom and retrieve the princess. He had done the same in Frere but Frere was still significant against electric types. Water-types could be easily crushed.

"It came into my knowledge that Darkus and Aurora Kingdoms had a fight recently," he stated. "The war resulted in surrender by Aurora kingdom when Queen Esperanza withdrew her forces. If Sapphire has been wondering north of the continent, it is likely that she could have encountered Queen Esperanza on their return and she could have offered to help Sapphire."

The king thought for a moment and silence fell upon the court. Volt smiled deviously because again, he had fooled his father. He was now going to go on a war against Aurora kingdom which would be at least better than Aquanesia. _At least their Queen is beautiful, _he thought to himself.

"I understand Volt," King Ampharos finally spoke, catching the prince off guard who had been fantasizing about how the war would have turned out. "You, the Pachirisu and the Luxray Nobles will lead the deputation to Queen Esperanza for a peaceful retrieval of your sister."

Volt was seething with anger at this suggestion. The fur on his back stood up in sharp daggers, the vision of which was not visible to the king. His brows dropped down in frown and his claws scaled the red carpet, putting a faint mark on its splendid weaving. Pachirisu noticed this. The Prince was expecting a war, killing, blood but instead, he got the task of making a peaceful conversation with a Queen just so he could retrieve the princess and although it was not likely that Queen Esperanza had Sapphire with her, he still didn't want this. It hadn't occurred to him but if by chance, Sapphire really was in Aurora kingdom, than the Luxray Nobles were sure to bring her back. The bribery on them would be pointless as they had sworn their loyalty to Zekrom and since they were aware of their mission, any plan Volt might manage to hatch would be ineffective.

"Something the matter Volt?" King questioned after observing the sudden change in his son's mood. Volt sighed again, trying to find an easy way out rather than having his father witness his treachery in all its glory.

"Why do we have to have a peaceful concession with them?" Volt asked his father, trying to control his anger. The fur on his back refused to sit down. "I mean, I could easily dispose off of them in a fight."

"No Volt," The king said rather harshly. "You saw what we did to the Frere Kingdom. In the end, they didn't really have Sapphire with them but rather they were suffering the same crisis as us: a missing member of the royal family. A war would lead to unnecessary bloodshed. So I ask of you, to have an assembly with Her Majesty Queen Esperanza and disclose the matter."

Volt was still furious to a very high degree. Yet, he somehow convinced his body to make a low bow. "Your orders are my command, father. We leave at noon."

With that, he swept out of the court with Pachirisu hurriedly walking at his side. He was worried about what was going through the prince's head. He was probably planning ahead, typical of prince Volt and his evil ways to get what he desired.

"You're highness?" Pachirisu said as soon as the doors to the court room were closed, allowing the two to have their conversations without risk of someone hearing. "May I ask what you're thinking?"

Volt didn't give any sort of expression which worried the royal advisor even more. Normally, Volt would smirk, indicating he had a trick up his sleeve. Or he would frown because the circumstances were not in his favor. For now, his expressionless faced showed that the prince himself wasn't so sure.

"I have a plan," he said grimly. "But I'm not sure if it would work."

**2 days later…..**

**In Frere Kingdom:-**

All his life, he had only ever entered the throne room when he was in the mood for a quick chat with his brother, or the Ceremony of the Ancients. The throne was like an entire different planet for him, one he had no desire to be on and now, it was the one thing he was going to spend the rest of his life on.

Prince Blaze dismissed everyone from the throne room the minute he got in. As soon as everyone was out and the room was empty, he loosened up and crashed onto the throne, his paw to his forehead. Who would have thought the coronation ceremonies could be so tiresome? And this, he was told, was only the first of the many such occasions he would have to deal with now that he was a King. There would be public addressing, ceremonies, balls, wars, royal assemblies and many other things and he would be the key character in all of these.

Up until now, he had only accompanied his brother to such gatherings, always zoning out everyone in his surroundings. More often than not, he was guilty of playing pranks during such occasions, ones that would always leave Arcanine laughing. This one time, he snuck over to a royal guard at the door who was a kricketune. The guard had fallen asleep, leaning against the door and Prince Blaze, using his razor sharp claws, swiped off half his of his mustache. The embarrassment the Kricketune had to face was only one which he could describe himself. Everyone else had only ended up laughing.

_I'll never hear him laugh. _Prince Blaze thought sadly, going into his thoughts. He had been doing a lot of that lately. King Arcanine wasn't the most humorous one but he was definitely frank with his brother. Now, he was no more. The day of mourning was just a day before the coronation of the new King; King Blaze.

In his thoughts, Blaze would think about his brother, always beating himself up for his death. Then to avoid it, he would replace those thoughts with that of Aquila. _Aquila, _He thought, looking out his window from the throne room while lying on his back on the throne. This was not the proper way for a king to sit but since none of the royal attendants were around, Fennekin, the little royal advisor at his side, allowed it. After all, the Prince had had a hard day. The least she could do was exempt him from his duties for a while. As a friend if not the royal adviser.

Fennekin watched in worry as she saw the prince immersed in yet another day dream. The Fennekin, as the Prince's closest companion, had noticed this sudden change in his behavior and had been extremely worried. _How is he going to carry out his royal duties if he is so depressed? _She thought, staring at the prince who seemed oblivious to her presence.

Just then, a loud sound was heard from outside the balcony that sounded like half-quack-half squawk. Prince Blaze snapped out of his thoughts at the unpleasant sound and sat up straight, holding his head high. It was no mistaking that one of the other royals had written to him. Seeing the pokemon approaching from the window, he decided it was probably from his ally, the Aerial Kingdom.

The pokemon was a Swanna with its magnificent white feathers and a crown like head. Such beautiful bird pokemon only resided in the Aerial Kingdom so it didn't even occur to him that this messenger, the lovely female Swanna could actually belong to another one of the eighteen kingdoms. Blaze sighed as she landed in front of him, a small roll of paper held securely in her beak. _This must be the Aerial Kingdom's king offering his consolidations on the loss of our king, and probably to acknowledge me on my success him as the new king. _Blaze thought.

He rolled his eyes involuntarily when the Swanna spread out her wings and craned her necks to bow in respect. He had grown tired with the amount of people he had seen bow their heads to him. They called it respect; he called it a worthless formality. The Swanna raised an eyebrow at this gesture. _She was so keen to write to him, _She thought. _And he doesn't even seem half so pleased with it._

Without any further formalities, much to Blaze's relief, she dropped the small roll of paper on the floor and took a few steps back from it. Then she turned around and spread her wings, ready to take off. Blaze perked up his ears at this. This wasn't how the official messages were sent to Arcanine.

"Stop!" He ordered the Swanna who immediately obeyed. She looked up at him fearfully. He gave her a pleasant smile, hoping to sooth her and it worked. The Swanna's shoulders dropped as she relaxed.

"Where are you from?" He asked politely. The Swanna looked down a bit in a way what Blaze could gather was an indication of embarrassment. He wondered what could be bothering the Swanna but decided not to intimidate her or frighten her into answering him.

"Hey! The King asks something of you!" Fennekin however decided to speak up. Blaze sighed.

Swanna waited for two more seconds until she finally spoke: "Aquanesia Your Majesty Blaze!"

Blaze flinched and his eyes widened. The voice he had heard had not lived up to the beauty of the bird pokemon he looked upon. The Swanna's voice was a squawky and a rather nasty one, like how a cackling old woman complains about pokemon playing on her lawn. Blaze was taken aback but tried not to show his astonishment. If there was one thing he was absolutely expected of doing as a good king, it was never to differentiate his subjects of their traits. She grew red from embracement and turned her head down to the ground. Seeing this, he dismissed her quickly so she could avoid the situation. She must have been glad to because she fled out of the balcony the very next minute.

Fennekin proceeded to pick up the letter. She brought it over to Blaze, who had asked her not to read it to him, but that he would read it himself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint smile on the king's face. He opened it with his paws and began to read.

_Dear Prince Blaze,_

_I suppose it is King now. I heard about the death of King Arcanine in the battle. I don't really know how to express myself but I feel so useless here in Aquanesia, not being able to bring you the comfort you need. _

_If you need anything at all, know that my castle doors are always open to you. Gyarados will bring you to the castle whenever you please. I trust you from deep within. I suppose we will meet again someday in the future. Until then._

_Yours Truly_

_Aquila_

Blaze read her name at the bottom again and blinked several times. _She forgot to mention 'Queen' with her name. _He thought silently. It could only mean one thing. She didn't see him as a king or an ally, but rather a friend. A smile crept up on his muzzle.

"Is it a girl?" Fennekin asked teasingly. Blaze turned around to see her leaning over the side of his throne, peering curiously at the letter and it was without a doubt that she had managed to read every word. _I guess being small has its own advantages. _Blaze thought.

'Who is Aquila?" Fennekin said slowly, teasing the king. He looked up at her, blushing.

"A-a friend!" He stuttered. "From another k-kingdom."

"Do you fancy this maiden?" Fennekin asked further in her teasing tone. Blaze quickly shook his head in protest.

"It's not like that!" He snapped, his blush growing brighter.

"Then why are you blushing?" Fennekin said,. Blaze looked away, embarrassed like he had never been embarrassed in his life.

"YOU CAN TELL!?" He yelped, shock written all over his face. He had hoped his orange fur would cooperate with him in hiding this. Fennekin shook her head silently.

"No. I can see it as clear as a Swellow in the morning sun," she said slowly, twitching her ears. "So, 'do'you fancy her?" She blinked her eyes teasingly and his blush grew even brighter, if that was even possible.

He walked to his balcony and took a deep breath, trying to free himself of his guilt. Aquila's words had helped him to overcome his depression and focus on his goals as the new king of Frere and also, to replenish the burning desire in his heart to live. _I will see you soon. _He said inside his head, picturing Aquila sitting on her giant clamshell throne, her tail spread in all its glory, dazzling with gems.

**In Aurora Kingdom:**

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Kirlia shrieked as she opened the door with a loud bang using her psychic powers, then proceeded to run on her petite little toes to the queen seated on the far end of the throne room. Queen Esperanza, who was lost in thoughts about the battle she fought earlier, looked up to her hasty royal advisor. She brought a paw to her muzzle and yawned. She knew her royal advisor had the tendency to exaggerate and this was probably another exaggeration.

"You Majesty!" Kirlia gasped, breathing heavily. "The Prince of Blitz Kingdom, Prince Volt wishes to speak to you! He has travelled all the way from the south to meet you!"

Esperanza's eyes widened. It wasn't often that deputations would come to her from Kingdoms far away let alone the Prince himself. She straightened up while the Alakazams lined up on her either side, ready for any kind of sudden attack they could anticipate from the Prince. Esperanza called for him and permitted his entry. The throne room's door was opened once again and Volt walked in.

He walked slowly on the soft carpet of the throne room. He wore a light blue cape of silk on his shoulder which dragged along behind him with a rustling sound. The Luxrays walked behind the prince, three on the left and three on the right, each of them wearing those serious expressions on their faces. Pachirisu walked in line with Prince Volt.

Volt looked right at Queen Esperanza and admired her beauty inside his heart. He made a mental calculation of how many hearts she could have possibly broken the day she married the king of Glacier Kingdom. But then again, who would want to be allies with a pokemon kingdom that was reluctant to fight any war? The Aurora Kingdom, under the reign of the Espeon Queen barely had any conquests. The recent one was one of the only he actually knew of.

He stood in front of her and bowed in respect, knowing that she was the Queen and he was a mere Prince. Yet, she was no older than him. _Luck favored her, _he grumbled. _I could have been the king if father would just pass on the torch._

"Rise Prince Volt," Queen Esperanza said in her heavenly voice. "You wish to have a word with me?"

Volt raised his head and looked up intently at the Queen. Now that they had the formalities out of the way, he could go on with the mission his father assigned him. The mission with a twist.

**Ok, there you go! All those who are still reading this, I really appreciate it! **

**Leave a review!**

**Next chapter: You'll learn of what Volt is really planning.**


	9. Stratagems

**Thanks for all the reviews on the previous one!**

**Here you guys go. The next chapter where you learn what Volt is really planning. I hope it wasn't a very predictable plan. It took me a while to come up with this one!**

**Benb, I'm glad you're still following this! Whew! I thought you found something else to follow and forgot about this! You are one of my most faithful readers!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"What is it that you wish to ask of me, Prince?" Queen Esperanza said from her throne in her royal accent. She gazed down upon the Jolteon who was no older than she was. She couldn't help but wish she could've been like him. She envied him from being exempted from all the sufferings that she had to face as a Princess when her father was alive. Being forcefully wedded and to take control of a kingdom she had no desire to rule.

"I have lost something very dear to me," He replied, boring into her eyes with his black ones. He could see sorrow in them though he didn't care to ask about it immediately. There were a lot of people in the room for him to do that.

"Haven't we all?" Esperanza asked yet again, blinking her eyes slowly as if she was trying to sedate the prince. That was only her innocence. Volt knew that Esperanza was not the brutal one of the two and even if she were, he was much more experienced than she ever will be. Her style of conversing amused him, tempting him to stick along longer than required.

"Yes, I suppose," he replied rather sheepishly. "But this one is someone very important to our kingdom."

Esperanza was taken by surprise but she showed no sign of it on her pretty face. All Volt could see was the serious expression on the lovely face, sprinkled with hints of melancholic incidents that he couldn't figure out, nor be rude enough to ask.

Esperanza got off the throne and stood up on her glossy pink, elegant legs. Volt kept looking at her moves, somehow expecting an attack. "Walk with me," she ordered and turned around without even making sure that he was following her.

"_Guards! Down!" _She told the Alakazam's telepathically. They all nodded once and Volt understood that they weren't going to be following them. The Queen wanted to speak to him alone. Signaling to his own squad of Luxrays, he followed her along rather cautiously but seeing her beauty, he could not bring himself to think that she would be the one to strike a heavily blow on him first. She was just too petite, too fragile for that. Still, one could never be too careful either. He kept charging the electricity underneath his fur at a slow pace; building it up if it was ever needed.

Esperanza guided him through a door on the other side of the throne room. It was not heavily decorated like the door that he had walked through earlier. The design on the wooden door was rather plain like any ordinary door but still, it wasn't his place to worry so he shrugged it off. Esperanza's eyes glowed pink and a mysteriously aura began to emit from the wooden door. It flung open, revealing a beautiful garden behind it.

Esperanza walked into the garden, followed by Volt. The door was shut behind them with a creaking sound but the beauty of the garden had Volt is its grasp to let him notice. The Garden's pavement was made of golden bricks and there were apple trees with flower beds of lilacs around then, circled with golden brick fence with blue gems poking out of the top of them. The gentle breeze ruffled his fur and he found his wrenched soul at peace even though his problems were not even close to being taken care off. In the centre of the garden, there was a golden fountain with clear blue water gushing out from the top and filling a small pool below. Esperanza seated herself on the edge of this fountain while Volt stood a short distance from her. She was looking at the sky, lost in thoughts about something. Volt felt obligated to find out.

"Is something bothering Her Majesty?" He asked politely, bowing his head slightly. She twitched her ears and turned to him.

"Oh, No," she said quickly. "I was just thinking about the battle I had earlier."

"Ah," Volt said, a smirk appearing on his muzzle. "Is that what you meant when you said we all have lost something?" He peered curiously at her, observing the red gem in the middle of her face. It wasn't glowing but it glimmered from the reflected rays of the sun, making the queen appear more beautiful. Still, the evil prince was unaffected by her appearances. Those who are heartless do not bring themselves to ponder over petty matters like that.

"In a way, I suppose so," she answered, looking down at her reflection in the water now. She dipped her paw in the fountain, feeling the cool rush of the water against it, then pulled it out and placed it back on the edge.

"You could have won if you didn't surrender," Volt said, now looking to his left at the lilac flowers. "You didn't have to surrender."

"Oh well," she said, changing the topic. "What is this pokemon you have lost? Are you searching for it in my kingdom?"

"Yes," Volt said, suddenly thinking of his plan. All he had to do was ask if Sapphire was there or not. If not, it was all good. He could return to his kingdom and inform his father that she wasn't there after all. If yes, he could misguide the queen into thinking that this Glaceon had murdered their princess, the one which the queen doesn't know about, and then have her execute Sapphire for him. It was the perfect plan to get rid of Sapphire once and for all. He won't have to go on expeditions in search of her anymore. He could finally go to wars to conquer kingdoms and maybe even become the king in the future, seeing as to how he was the only heir to the throne. He cleared his throat and then, hiding his evilness behind those quirky smiles, he told her.

"She was a Glaceon," he said. "She escaped from the Kingdom. We have been searching for her since. Has she, by any chance, been seeking refuge with her Majesty?"

Esperanza eyes widened. _Could it be!? _She thought. _Is she the same Glaceon that I found with Prince Skull, the Umbreon?_

"Tell me her name," she said, looking down to avoid his gaze in case he noticed her astonishment and hurt. It was too late. He had already seen the sudden change in her mood and concluded she did indeed have some idea about Sapphire's whereabouts. Now, all he could do was hope she wouldn't lie and defend the princess. Moreover, if Esperanza is aware of Sapphire's plight, she would definitely defend her. However, the fact that she had chosen to speak in private with him was proof enough that she wasn't really aware of this. It could only mean two things: Either Sapphire hasn't told the queen if she is hiding in Aurora Kingdom, or she wasn't with the queen at all. But then, why was the Queen so baffled at the mention of this Glaceon? All these questions flooded his mind.

"Sapphire," He told her, blinking at her. He stared at her while she avoided his gaze. "She calls herself Sapphire."

"If I recall correctly," she said, looking the sky and going into the thinking stance again. "I did see her in my battle recently."

Volts eyes widened. _The battle! _He thought. _Sapphire was in a war? And since the battle was with Darkus army, it is no doubt that she has been in Darkus all this time. But how did she get there? The Prince of Darkus is the darkest of souls, even above me. He should have had her beheaded or something!?_

"Something wrong Prince Volt?" Esperanza said, tilting her head in confusion at the sudden change in the expression of the prince. All along, he had been serious, his face drained off of its colors. Now, it seemed that her statement had brought some colors into his cheeks, the colors of surprise. It showed that he wasn't really void of emotion like she had been thinking all this time.

"It's nothing," he answered, shaking his head. "This Glaceon you saw? Was she fighting too?"

"No, not really," Queen Esperanza replied slowly, taking in every little emotion that Volt would allow to float just for the sake of some information. "Prince Skull was protecting her. It was a part of the reason why I surrendered."

Volt felt a ping of guilt in his heart but it wasn't enough to make him apologize for asking. It didn't even occur to him that Esperanza held Skull very dear to herself. All he could focus on was that Prince Skull was protecting a Glaceon and it was a possibility that this Glaceon was none other than his sister, Sapphire. Now, he had to hatch another plan to dispose off of her. And it wasn't very long until one snapped into his mind . _All I have to do is lead a deputation to Darkus and convince this Prince Skull otherwise. But, since Esperanza suggests he was protecting her, I doubt he'd have her hanged. Perhaps I can use Esperanza for my goals. _He thought, and then turned his attention back to Queen Esperanza.

"I feel like I owe it to you," Volt said with a grim smile on his muzzle. "That Sapphire is evil. She is the murderer of my sister."

Esperanza gasped and her eyes widened. 'You! You are not serious are you?" She pleaded, her eyes filled with fear. Volt nodded once.

"I'm afraid so it is," he told her. 'With that in mind, I vowed to get revenge for my dead sister!"

"That means," she said, traumatized by the sudden thought. "Skull is in danger!"

Volt's ears perked up. "I'm sorry. I thought he was your enemy. Could I have been mistaken, you're Majesty?"

"Mistaken?!" She yelled, scolding him. "You are gravely mistaken Prince Volt! Prince Skull is the pokemon I gave my heart to! I know he broke my heart but I cannot, and will not have him murdered by the likes of that Glaceon!" She jumped off the edge of the fountain and stood on her paws, determined and scared at the same time. It amused Volt to see her like this. She could have been the best warrior if she could only let her strength be her guide rather than be fooled by her heart in pursuit for eternal peace. _Why did she have to be so merciful and kind? _He thought.

"Then you better write to him," he suggested without hesitating. This could have his problems taken care of much faster than a war. Esperanza's ears dropped and she collapsed back on the edge of the fountain, looking at her reflection once again. A tear escaped her eyes and made a soft splatter when it fell into the fountain, followed by ripples in the water below, distorting her reflecting for a few seconds before it returned to normal. Volt noticed this. He took a step towards her in concern. He was in big trouble if anything were to happen to Esperanza. He only had six Luxrays. She had an entire army.

"I cannot write to him," She said is a melancholic tone. "He does not love me anymore."

Volt couldn't help but feel pity on the queen. In his eyes, she was pathetic for wishing well to someone who had caused her such pain. She should have been bent upon having him killed, not saved. But then again, Esperanza wasn't heartless like him. In fact, if he didn't know any better, she was the exact opposite of him. He was merciless, she was merciful. He was brutal, she was generous. He was the face of evil; she was a vision of purity.

"Then why do you care about him?" he said, intimidating her. "Wouldn't it be better if karma were to take your revenge for you?" Esperanza laughed a bit but that too, was hollow and full of sorrow. He titled his head in confusion and waited for her to go on.

"You don't understand do you Prince Volt?" She said, smiling weakly at him. "Hate cannot defy love."

Whether he liked it or not, her words had touched his heart. He smiled at her innocence. He closed his eyes and looked down, smirking. His appearance lacked nothing for him to be labeled a charming prince, except his heart was as black as coal.

"Yes. But what good will Love do when the only thing the other person has in his heart for you is hate?" He replied, thinking about his own father, the way he was always considered second to Sapphire.

Esperanza turned her head back down into the fountain and looked at her reflection. She could see her emotions clearly in it. Volt was right. She loved a Prince who hated her, betrayed her, toyed with her tender heart and left her to her fate, not even fighting for her hand when she was being forcefully wedded.

"Come with me," Volt said, startling her. She opened her eyes and saw his reflection in the crystal clear water of the fountain below right next to her, looking down at her reflection. He leaned in closer to her, bringing his muzzle up to her face. She felt a chill run down her spine as he came too close for personal space. _Is he going to kiss me? _She gasped internally. Her paws began to shiver and she felt like clawing him with her paw, then using her telepathic powers to call upon the guards. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her eyes were wide open from fear of what Volt had in mind for her. _Please don't kiss me! I beg of you! _She prayed.

Volt instead took his muzzle to her ear and whispered: "Join hands with Blitz and let us take on Darkus together. If he won't listen to you, you need to make him see."

He moved away from her ear and smiled at her. For a few seconds, she was mesmerized by him as she felt her fear leave her conscious. She had understood what he had suggested. And he was right too. Skull wasn't going to listen to her. It was obvious that he'd actually burn her letter to ashes before even reading it. Besides, the way he had protected the Glaceon from her was proof enough that anything she'd tell him would be passed on as a lie. The only way through to the situation was a battle. And making a temporary alliance with Blitz to win it sounded promising. She didn't smile back at Prince Volt. Instead, she nodded her head.

"Alright," she told him. "If that's what it takes, I'm with you till the end." She stood up and looked him in the eye, showing her determination to save the pokemon that once loved her. "Let us put an end to this vile Glaceon together."

Volt smiled deviously. Once again, his plan had worked to perfections.

**In Frere Kingdom:-**

Blaze was sitting up straight on his throne, his back aching from all the pain. He hadn't had a second to relax since morning and had been sitting like that in the presence of his courtiers; Frere's most trusted warriors, the royal servants and Fennekin.

"Fennekin," he called her and she came up to him, bowed slightly and then raised her head. He rolled his eyes again at the formality and earned a glare from Fennekin. He immediately took it back and cleared his throat, then proceeded.

"I believe it is time we plot our vengeance on Blitz," He suggested. The warriors, who had been lost in their own individual thoughts, snapped out of it and paid attention. This was what they had been waiting for; For King Blaze to take some actions against Blitz and it seemed that finally, he was on the right path.

"Yes," Fennekin answered. "But as you can see, we suffered serious damage in our last fight. I don't think we can take up any strong measures as of now. I believe a wiser choice would be to defend ourselves until we are economically strong enough to oppose."

Blaze thought for a moment. Fennekin was right. She was quiet the royal advisor. No wonder Arcanine preferred her suggestions and never took up any other royal advisors for himself. Fennekin had not only proven herself to be extremely clever like the fox-pokemon that she was, but she had also proved to be a great friend when she helped Blaze recover from his depression. Sure she could be like an annoying little sister sometimes but none of that changed the fact that Blaze could trust her in almost anything. Except his love life maybe.

"You Majesty?" One of the warriors, a Magmortar, came up and knelt on his knees in front of the king. "If Your Majesty pleases, I have a suggestion to make in this matter."

Blaze twitched his ears and blinked twice. "Yes. Go on." He said. The Magmortar raised his head.

"I do believe we are still in alliance with Aerial Kingdom," he began. "You could write to King Staraptor and we can fight the war together with them. Two forces combined into one should be enough to overthrow Blitz Kingdom."

_Good idea _Blaze thought but someone else didn't think so.

"I don't think that is a wise choice," Fennekin spoke up, diverting all the attention to herself once more. Blaze was keener to listen to what Fennekin had to say, given her superior strategies unlike Magmortar who believed that action was the best solution to everything.

"How so Fennekin?" Blaze asked. "Pray tell." _Stupid royal accent _he muttered inside his head. Now that he thought about it, the last sentence sounded kind of dumb.

"Well," Fennekin said, making her point. "The Aerial Kingdom is mostly flying-type which is weak against the electric-type. So, even if we were to lead the battle along with them, we won't have as much of a benefit except for the numerical majority. In other words, we are only putting the lives of our allies in danger."

King Blaze considered this too and it was valid. The other alternative he had was to write to Queen Aquila and fight the battle alongside the Aquanesia kingdom. But, then again, water was weak to electric too and there was a risk in putting the life of his beloved in danger. This idea was abandoned as quickly as it came to his mind.

"Fennekin," he ordered and she bowed. "Write to King Unfezant! Tell him to prepare for war."

Fennekin looked at him one last time. She could see determination in his eyes. Nothing could stop him now and even her pleas would be futile. Also, a part of her was screaming to her to take this opportunity to get back at those Blitz pokemon. She silently bowed: "Yes Your Majesty," then turned around and slowly left the throne room to get on with her task.

**In Florasia Kingdom:**

Queen Ellen, the Leafeon queen of Florasia walked up the stone staircase to the top on her castle where the huge willow tree was situated, surrounded by the beautiful flower beds with their heavenly scents. All of this failed to grasp her attention and she made her way quickly towards the giant tree, the royal advisor Grovyle at her side.

A small portion of her grass-type army was already waiting for her on the sides of the tree. An entire battalion of Roserades stood on the right side, kneeling on their knees with their roses held out. On the left side of the large willow tree was the battalion of gogoats, kneeling on their front legs with their horns pointing out in front of their heads. The ceremony of the Ancients was about to commence and Ellen was not a minute late, thanks to Grovyle.

She bowed alongside Grovyle in front of the tree's trunk and then touched it with her paw. A mysterious green glow enveloped her and the Grovyle and they vanished from that spot. They appeared into what seemed to be like a chasm with wild flowers growing endlessly at their feet, making a soft crunching sound as they walked. This was the inside of the willow tree. This lovely flora world existed inside the thick trunk of the tree itself, brought to life by the water gushing out of giant holes that went down the castle walls. These were the roots.

"Ellen," a soft, angelic voice echoed her name and she knelt low, waiting for the legendary pokemon to show itself. The voice sounded far away. "I see you are on time as always."

At the far end of the flower field, she could see an elegant figure with long, sleek legs walking slowly towards her, white mist surrounding her and shielding her from view, making her appear as nothing more than a silhouette. The majestic pokemon was taking slow steps, making a soft clicking sound with her hooves. The mist began to vanish as the pokemon came closer to her. When she reached Ellen, she told her to rise. Grovyle stood behind the Queen, letting her do all the talking.

"I'm sorry I failed to stop Prince Skull in our last battle, Virizion" Queen Ellen said quickly. "I failed you."

"Oh no my child," the Virizion said, a pleasant smile on her green muzzle. "You mustn't mourn over your failures and look ahead to the future."

"I know," she said solemnly. "But it is with heavy heart that I report to you that I failed to accomplish this task. I'll get it right the next time for sure."

"Oh no," Virizion said, her smile quickly vanishing. "That is not for you to worry about anymore. I'm afraid what I have feared all along if fast approaching." There was urgency in her voice which caught Queen Ellen's attention.

"What is it" Queen Ellen asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot express it," Virizion told her. She was quite taller than the Leafeon Queen and had to crane her long neck a bit to gaze down upon her. "You must see it for yourself. For now, many kingdoms have made powerful allies. I suggest you find an ally too."

"But why?" Ellen protested. Virizion shook her head slowly, then turned around to leave.

"Hurry," she said in an urgent and warning tone. "Hurry Ellen. You mustn't waste time in questioning." The mist enshrouded the pokemon again as she disappeared out of sight on the far end of the endless flower field. Following her would be pointless. Ellen had tried it once, only to find herself wondering around an endless flower field.

Ellen's ears dropped down to her face. _What is it that Virizion is so worried about? _She thought silently. she closed her eyes and then concentrating on returning back outside the willow tree. She was wrapped outside in much the same way she was wrapped inside the tree. The army was still waiting in the kneeling position.

"Queen Ellen?" Grovyle said from behind. 'Orders?"

"Yes," she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "We lead a deputation to Stardust kingdom at dawn."

* * *

**Just some facts:**

**Ellen's name is inspired by the name 'Ellen Pompeo' the actress in the lead role of my favorite television show, 'Grey's anatomy.'**

**Aquila was originally going to be a male character.**

**Blitz Kingdom's name is inspired by the pokemon fire move "Flare Blitz" which always sounded a bit electrical to be. **

**Frere Kingdom's name is inspired from the British colonial administrator, 'Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere.' Read it in history liked it and used it.**

**Skull's original name was going to be Cecil, inspired from the character in final fantasy 3, Cecil Harvey.**

**Thanks for reading it as always. I'll leave you guys to guess any future battles and conflicts. Leave a review!**


	10. Welcome to my sky

**I know this was due yesterday and I was really busy because it was one of my best friend's birthday and I was really sick. Don't be mad at me, I missed an important party and delayed this chapter. Anyways, here is the next chapter for you to read. **

**For all those who wanted to see a new kingdom, I finally introduced one. I hope you guys like its depiction. **

**I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling mistakes you find.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Morning in the Darkus kingdom was not much different from the night. The black, cloud cover overhead casted a huge shadow on the territory below, making the place look like the castle of the Lord of the Dead.

Glace was on a stroll in the gardens of the Darkus kingdom's castle, taking in the smell of the roses that always seemed to refresh her mind. The morning dew on the thorny roses looked fresh enough to be licked but then licking them felt like she'd be destroying their beauty. The roses grew everywhere. Tall hedges of these crimson red roses were dominating the garden with a small pond in the centre with a few daffodils poking out of its banks. The garden, with its dark colors and shadowy surroundings was sinister yet beautiful.

Glace sat by the edge, looking down at her reflection in the water below. She had had another one of those nightmares again where a mysterious voice was calling to her.

**Flashback:-**

"Sapphire," A full and clear voice called out softly to her. "I'm here."

Sapphire perked up her ears. She had been here before. She wasn't startled or afraid in a bit but there was no denying that this place sent chills running down her spine and it wasn't the cold. She had gotten used to the cold. She was an ice pokemon after all.

Turning her head from side to side, she carefully walked over the frozen ground. She had learnt her lesson on the first time that any sudden movements and she'd be sent spinning on this frozen surface. Stooping low, she padded along the single path that lied ahead of her with Glaciers on either side of her, Glaciers that would be impossible to climb over.

"Sapphire, don't be afraid," The voice called again. It sounded much closer now, alerting the Glaceon that she must have made it to that giant Glacier case where the owner of the voice was trapped.

"Excuse me?" she mumbled as the huge Glacier came into view. She held up her head and arched her back and looked about from every direction in an attempt to catch the glimpse of the pokemon behind in the chasm.

"Come to me, Sapphire," The voice called again. "Don't be afraid." It was still a voice of a stranger but somehow, she had learnt to recognize it by now because of her increasing number of nightmares.

"Find me, quick," The voice called out. "I'm in dire need of your help Sapphire."

"Where will I find you?" Sapphire shrieked desperately, putting up her front paws on to the Glacier and standing up on her hind legs, peering closely through its thick, frozen walls. There was no sign of a pokemon behind it but the voice confirmed it that it's speaker was on the other side of the frozen wall, possibly encased in that Glacier.

Her ears and tail shot up on their ends and her eyes widened when she saw that huge claw on the other side of the Glacier. It was placed against the frozen ice wall. She put up her own paws against it, breathing heavily. Was it fear or was it astonishment? She couldn't tell.

It was a grey claw which didn't help with the guessing game. She remembered the game 'who's that pokemon' being so much more fun when she was a kid. A grey claw wasn't really a very helpful clue. There were lots of pokemon that had grey claws. At this point, she was ready to consider the fur color as a helpful clue.

"Sapphire," The voice replied. There was a hint of laughter, like the owner of the voice was slightly amused. "You'll find me. I promise you."

Sapphire's shoulders relaxed and dropped back down. Her tail fell back in its constant motion but her body refused to step down from Glacier walls. She kept staring ahead, unable to remove her gaze from the claw scaling down the frozen wall with that crackling sound until she saw its withdrawal.

"Who are you?" she said, narrowing her eyes. At this point, it was hopeless to expect this pokemon to reveal anything. Yet, there was no harm in asking. She had warmed up to this voice. Somehow, this voice made her feel like she was at peace, like she was where she belonged and he was the one who knew of her misery and shared in her grief. Even Prince Skull had failed to make her feel that way.

"Search for me," It said. The voice was fading away, indicating that she'd be waking up anytime soon. "You'll find me for sure."

"WAIT!" She cried, pounding her paws on the Glacier.

"Search for me. You'll find me for sure. For sure."

**Flash back ends:-**

Glace narrowed her eyes and her lips curled into a sad smile. It was downright hilarious that someone she didn't know expected her to do something for him, find him in someplace she had no idea about.

"Is everything alright, Lady Glace?" Skull voice came from behind. Startled, she almost fell in the lake below but managed to find her balance in time.

"Prince Skull," she chirped nervously as her heartbeat returned to normal. "I didn't see you."

"Naturally," He said casually, making his way to her. "I'm as black as the night sky."

"Or the day sky," she added and he laughed at her indirect comment on the Darkus Kingdom.

She turned her head back down to the lake, avoiding his penetrating gaze. He seated himself right beside her and copied her pose, looking below to the crystal blue lake and watched their reflection stare back at them. Even in the reflection, he could tell that she wasn't really looking at him but at the luvdiscs swimming below.

"You have a beautiful garden," Glace complimented, shying away. Skull rolled his eyes. She had tried to change the subject. Knowing how she felt, he didn't try to bring her back to it.

"Yes," He said grimly. "Life can bloom in darkness."

"Hmm?" Glace asked, confused. Finally, he had her attention. She looked at him curiously and he went on to explain.

"The moral of this garden," he said, turning to the rose bush on his right. His paw slid up the thorny stem as if they weren't even there. Then ever so gently, he lifted the crimson red rose up. A single drop of dew from its petals dropped on his paw and found its way down the black fur of his legs. He smiled at it. "The reason I made my garden this way was to show that life can bloom in darkness."

_How romantic _Glace thought. Then quickly shook the thought away.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked, leaning in to her. This was his way of making her answer when she didn't felt like it. It wasn't any kind of romantic approach. It was his way of showing her that he cared when he simply didn't.

"What do you mean?" She asked, playing it innocent.

"Well, obviously you're wondering about the battle you had earlier," he stated, looking down in the lake again. It was his turn to avoid her gaze. This gesture was welcomed.

"Yes, you read my mind, Your Highness," she lied. Guilt took over her conscious. She had lied to the Prince who had showered her with the kind of mercy even her father couldn't. Dishonesty wasn't the path she chose, but she wasn't planning on becoming a plague either.

"I thought so," he replied and smirked. "Lady Esperanza can be quite the devious one when she wants to be."

"It was her?" Glace asked, shocked. "She was the one hurting you!?"

"You need not worry about me Lady Glace," He laughed, standing up on his paws. "It was you that she could've killed. I know she can never muster the courage to put an end to me." He turned to leave, infuriating Glace because once again, he had only revealed a part of his secret to her and kept the rest to himself.

"How can you be so sure?' She called out to him. He turned his head and smiled at her.

"I just am," He replied, his face radiating the confidence in him. Then he turned back to face the opposite direction. "Anyways, it's about time I see to the mission of Giratina. Please excuse me."

With that, he left her to piece the rest of the story together. This was like a one big puzzle she couldn't put together. _What exactly happened between Prince Skull and Queen Esperanza?_

**In Aerial Kingdom:-**

Aerial Kingdom was regarded as one of the most magnificent castles in the entire pokemon world. It was a kingdom that did not exist in a particular place on the ground, but had rather set its cities hovering high in the sky, only to be reachable by those who could soar in the sky or had some means of conveyance to reach it.

The Kingdom of Aerial was rumored to be built on the backs of thousands of Altarias who held the kingdom high with their physical strength, holding up the castle and all its cities in the air. The Aerial Kingdom was held in high esteem for its defensive techniques. Kingdoms hardly ever dared to attack it, mainly because it was impossible to attack it when it was so high up out of reach. In case of an attack, their king would order the Altarias to carry the castle away to safety. In short, this kingdom was always on the move.

The city buildings were built in the shape of long towers with sharp edges. The walls of these buildings were made of mirrors right down to their edges, reflecting the world around them. The population of the kingdom was very limited but the mirror effect made the kingdom look like a huge place and the reflections of these pokemon made them appear like thousands in numbers, even when there only a handful on the move. It would be impossible to tell where one was going with all the mirrors reflecting every street and all the pokemon but this was where their bird senses would kick in, helping them to find their way around the mirror maze, which was not something every pokemon could do.

A few Spearrows, Aerodactyles and Mukrows were flying around the city but their reflections made them appear to a hundreds in number, dashing past in a blur in the busy city of the bird pokemon. This was one kingdom that had least of the troubles when it came to war so naturally, its residents were almost always at peace.

The castle situated in the centre of the flying kingdom, was the only building that stood out from all the regular mirror buildings. Its structure was made of marble and covered in green mirror tiles on the outside. The inside of the castle was made of white marble forged by the pegeottos and Skarmorys from the grounds below. The castle had six towers in a hexagonal shape, connected together by three horizontal chambers, one above the other.

The King of Aerial Kingdom, King Unfezant, was perched on his throne which was basically nothing more than a gold stool with a rod for him to grab onto with his talons and then balance himself. Even with such a plain throne, he looked like the mighty king that he was. After all, his kingdom was placed in the top three strongest pokemon kingdoms. They had their flying ability to thank for it and their alliance with Frere Kingdom who mostly fought all their battles from the land, taking care of their enemies before they even had a chance to think about attacking Aerial Kingdom.

A Skarmory flew into the throne room from the oval shaped window and then landed gracefully before the king. He stretched out his silver wings and craned his neck to bow. "You're Majesty. I come with news form the Frere Kingdom."

The King signaled with his wattles for the Skarmory to continue. The Skarmory raised its head and then delivered the news.

"The King of Frere Kingdom, King Arcanine was killed in their most recent battle with Blitz," He informed in a high-pitched voice so that everyone in the throne room could hear. "But, Prince Blaze has succeeded him as the new king. Now, he is ready to march on Blitz Kingdom in vengeance and calls upon you to join him."

"Prince Blaze?" King Unfezant screeched. "That careless little buffoon! He is incapable of leading a battle!"

The Skarmory shut his beak tight in fear that the King's rage was building. Everybody else seemed to copy his movement and did the same. The King closed his eyes and a few minutes of utter silence followed where it felt like for a second, no one was even breathing from the fear of their mighty king's temper.

"I have decided," he said, opening his eyes in that devious way. Looking into the King's eyes, Skarmory felt like the King would have tackled him with those razor sharp talons and gorged his eyes out and then sucked on his blood. It was that glare that could penetrate the soul from within.

"I dissolve my alliance with Frere!" He squawked. Everyone in the courtroom gasped. Even though they were strong enough to survive without an alliance, this seemed rather evil of the king to abandon their faithful ally in times of need.

"But, Your Majesty-" The Skaromory stuttered.

"SILENCE!" He growled as he unsheathed his gold-plated wings and blew a heavy gust at the standing Skarmory, forcing him to kneel. Then he ruffled up his wings in anger which made him appear twice his actual size. "I have no desire to follow a fool in death! Be gone Skarmory! And convey my message, and condolence for the loss of a true king!"

The message sounded cold and harsh, but what choice did the Skarmory have but to obey the king? Yes, being brutally killed counted as a choice but not really the one he was keen to get his talons on and therefore, the fear-stricken bird took off.

King Unfezant calmed down and pulled back his feathers. Now, he was going to break this news to his daughter, the commander of his army. This, he would prefer to do himself.

Princess of Aerial Kingdom, Princess Tranquill flew throughout the wide passageways of her palace, which had been specially crafted to allow flight through them. The pure white marble gleamed in the sunlight, which flowed into the chamber through open holes in the walls that served as windows, and entry and exit points for the flying types within.

The young Tranquill thought of her father's warning as she flew. She had mastered the art of deep thought while flying, as she was the fastest and most graceful flyer in the entire kingdom. As the commander of one of the fiercest armies in the entire pokemon world, it was vital for her to master this skill. Her father had warned her that ever since they had made the alliance with Frere, they had to be prepared to assist them in battle at any time. If it did come to that, she would be the one to lead the armies. Princess Tranquill thought that she would be frightened at the prospect, but she found that she felt ready to lead.

She swiftly flew through the passage, her wings whistling softly as they sliced through the thin air. She was going faster than normal, but could handle herself easily at much greater speeds. She demonstrated this by expertly looping around, using the new angle to gracefully make a sharp turn. At last, she was at her destination. When she landed on the perch before her chamber, Crobat her personal advisor was already waiting for her. The Crobat crossed his wings, and nudged open the door for her.

"Late, late, late!" He chided as she folded her wings and entered the room. "You really ought to fly faster, kid."

Princess Tranquill shot him an annoyed glare, which could never rival to that of her father, unless she evolved or something. "We're the same age. Just because you're two days older than me doesn't mean anything." She pouted, frowning.

In addition to her advisor, Crobat had become one of her closest friends over the years. They constantly got on each other's nerves, but holding a grudge against each other was practically impossible.

Flash forward, Princess Tranquill and Crobat were circling the palace of their Aerial kingdom. Today of all days her father had decided to conduct her training course personally, which meant that there was something important he wanted to discuss. The Princess had anticipated that easily. He had employed the same method when he had broken the sad news of her mother's death while her younger brother was lost in stillbirth. Somehow, the intense training always kept her from feeling depressed and her father found it easiest to break the news to her when she was at it.

Despite the fact that she was a little sore from flying back a short time before, it failed to bring any mass effect on her strengths and stamina. They began by doing three laps around the white marble palace, its six tall towers arranged in a hexagonal position shining brilliantly. They then closed in, and began looping the chambers that connected the towers, like the one that Princess Tranquill had just flown through. She gracefully circled the chambers outside, speeding just inches away from its green surface. The initial pain of her wings being stressed when they were still sore was gone now, and she was free to fly as she wished. From there, she angled upward, barrel rolling as she did, until they had flown high enough to see the entire kingdom. The green castle below looked like a giant emerald from that altitude.

"Alright, that's enough for today. You did well, now let's head back to the palace," King Unfezant called out as he flapped gracefully towards them. How he flew so easily with all that gold armor on his wings was still a mystery to her. She simply nodded, and as one they dived down to the castle, slicing through the air, whistling as they went.

Her father, King Unfezant, landed elegantly on the green floored training arena below with his daughter following along. His movements had made her landing look a bit clumsy but then again, she was no perfectionist like her father was. He folded his wings and looked down upon his daughter, feeling her look up at him.

"Tranquill," he addressed her with that blank expression. "I expect you to be ready."

"I am ready father," She said solemnly. All her life, Princess Tranquill had strived perfection, to become like her father so he would always love and treasure her. The only thing she had in her mind was that her father meant to use every minute of her beating heart to protect the kingdom until the day she was slain on the battlefield. Would he care if she were to be killed? No, he wouldn't. She was sure of that. He was too cruel to care; even as her father.

"We are no longer in alliance with Frere," he informed her. "So we mustn't expect any help from anyone for our future. Strengthen yourself to your limits. I expect you to lead any battle we may face."

"I understand, father," She replied, bowing in respect.

"Failure shall not be forgiven," he told her, turning around. "You are the daughter of the King of Aerial Kingdom after all." With that, he flapped open his magnificent wings adorned with jewels and took to the skies, flying with the speed of light.

As soon as she was sure he was out of view, Princess Tranquill looked up and sighed. Crobat landed next to her and noticed her despair. The only thing he could do was give her the comfort of his presence. Even that was enough for her.

"Does he ever smile?" Crobat inquired, playing with one of his purple wings.

"Not when I am around," Princess Tranquill replied, hanging her head down. _Why can't he accept me for who I am?_

* * *

**The credits for the Aerial kingdom aren't entirely mine. JolttheJolteon helped with its descriptions and characters so yeah, Princess Tranquill, King Unfezant and Crobat were his idea. I don't get him but he's cool and I'm pretty sure that feeling is mutual.**

**Thanks JolttheJolteon.**

**Ok, leave a review and tell me what you think.**

**Next chapter: Spotlight to the Slyveon Queen.**


	11. Fairymaid

**OK, as promised. This chapter is entirely about Queen Starla. Sorry for the late update. Since the response on the previous chapter wasn't a strong one, I wasn't really that hyped to type this down. So, sorry to all those who have been waiting eagerly.**

**Also, Happy belated New Year!**

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

**In Florasia Kingdom:**

Looking at herself in the mirror of her dressing room, Queen Ellen smoothed the leaf on her head with her tan paw. She was standing on her hind legs to look into the mirror as she gave final touches to herself before leaving for the Stardust Kingdom. She got down on her front paws and turned to the glass bowl of fresh water waiting for her. Freshly-picked roses, as red as blood were floating in the cool water. She picked up one of the roses and traced it over her face and ears and then down to her neck. Her skin tingled with the contact of the cold water that left the smell of the roses lingering on her.

Dumping the rose back into the bowl, she took her gold necklace with the Florasia symbol on it and clutched it securely around her neck, then smoothing the leaf on her tail; she swept out of the room, followed by Grovyle who had been patiently waiting for her right outside by the door.

"Your Majesty," he reported as they continued to walk soundlessly down the corridors towards the throne room. "I have arranged for the Aalakazams to teleport us close to the grounds of the Stardust Kingdom as you requested."

"Excellent," she waved him and they continued walking with those solemn expressions and soon, they reached the huge wooden door of the Throne room, covered in dark green vines growing all over it.

The Throne room of the Florasia Kingdom was one with nature, just like the castle itself. The Kingdom had green carpet leading to the throne. On either side, the ground was leveled lower. Fresh soil was laid on this lower area and grass was planted with wild, thorny flowers growing everywhere. It was like a garden inside the throne room.

Outside the balcony, you could see the long roots of the giant Willow tree running all the way down and touching the ground. When Ellen was an Eevee, she would sneak out of the castle by using her tiny claws to grasp the old but strong roots and sliding down to the ground below and then, using her tiny body to make her escape through the palace walls and into the city. The commoners had been her friends rather than the sons of the nobles of Florasia. Now that she was a Queen, she didn't have time for these childish pleasantries. She had far bigger things to worry about. Prince Skull being the start of it all.

In the throne room, six Roserade warriors were waiting for her. Sitting on the grassy part of the throne room were the two twin brothers, The Aalakazams, who were summoned into the court to teleport the queen, her royal advisor, her ride, the Venusaur and the six Roserade warriors to the plains of Limestone which marked the territory of the Stardust Kingdom.

The venussaur kneeled and the Leafeon Queen climbed his back and seated herself in the giant tree in the middle of his back. Grovyle, using his agile legs, leaped onto the Venusaur's head the very next second. Sliding his leafy fingers between the double rein, he guided the Venusaur onto the grass, followed by the roserades, three on each side.

The Aalakazam brothers, feeling the royal presence drawing near, opened their eyes and stood up. On the signal of the Queen, they drew out their hands and recited some ancient and weird carnation. Pink smoke began to surround the group and in the mist, they vanished. The Aalakazam brothers were shortly dismissed and they teleported away, wherever they wanted to go.

Queen Ellen and her deputation found themselves in a land which they had so far only heard of. Pink grounds lied beneath their feet, stretching out for miles ahead. This ground was made of pure limestone that had emerged from the underground a few hundred years ago and marked the beginning of the Fairy-pokemon dynasty. In fact, no one had even heard of the existence of the Fairy-type pokemon and their kingdom was the last to appear on the map. Many legends narrate that the kingdom had existed underground and dates back to early centuries but after their ancient king had insulted the legendary pokemon that guarded the underground caverns, they were forcefully dumped onto the surface to fend for themselves. The Fossil Kingdom, who knew that the same fate was in store for them, quickly turned their heads and knelt to the legendary, swearing fealty to him and vowing to worship him. And there they are to this day, worshiping him still. Of course, it was only a legend but this was the most reasonable explanation anyone had.

The rulers of the Stardust Kingdom were known for their pleasure-seeking disposition. As such, they had never made an effort to preserve their history. The kings had spent time sitting on the throne room, having their servants feed them grapes while the court musicians played all night. Despite their lethargic ways, they had been quick in making a name for themselves, building a kingdom faster than any in the history and so far, they had proven themselves no harm to any of the others. Given that, their kingdom rarely had conquests from the conquering kingdom nor did they abandon their luxurious lifestyles to conquer others. In fact, the sole purpose it served to the other kingdoms was trade. Merchant pokemon would travel from far areas to trade the special limestone objects carved by the fairy pokemon.

Queen Ellen and her deputation made a short journey until they found the Kingdom of Stardust situated in this land of limestone. The castle overlooked the entire area and was also built of limestone. Queen Ellen took in the structure carefully and concluded that the castle must have been carved into a Limestone mountain and that would mean that the entire castle walls and is corridors were all made of pure limestone. It was magnificent to say the least. World really is a wonderful place.

Queen Ellen requested entry into the kingdom which was granted easily because for one, she didn't really come with a huge force armed to teeth and two, the Kingdom really didn't have any threats. Pokemon from other kingdoms came all the time and this wasn't something out of the ordinary. With the sound of a loud trumpet, the iron gates to the city leading to the castle were opened for them.

The road to the castle had been easy and once inside the castle premises, Queen Ellen realized that the castle gardens didn't have real vegetation either. Instead, small sculptures of many hundred flowers were carved out of limestone and even sculptures of trees made. _It must be the hands of the Fairy-pokemon experts _Queen Ellen thought, taking in the beauty of the glowing flowers from the reflected light. _They look so life like._

This was a strange view for pokemon that had been born and raised in the lap of flora. Yet, the beauty they beheld could not be put into words and they found it hard to tear their eyes away from this glorious view of the limestone garden. But, they didn't have all the time in the world either. Their mission was to make an alliance with Stardust kingdom. This was going to be a difficult task. Stardust kingdom was one which was not particularly keen in wars and their assistance was not the most reliable one when it came to fighting. Also, it had a lot of afflictions with other kingdoms and therefore, persuading them into coming in terms with Florasia might lead to a drastic fall in their trade with other kingdoms, the very trade that had helped the royal family generate revenue to support their lavish lifestyles. Queen Ellen sighed at this thought. This was like the punishment for her after failing to put an end to their old enemy, the Darkus Kingdom.

Now, they were walking down the hall towards the throne room. Spritzee, the royal advisor of Queen Starla the Slyveon quickly fluttered away inside the room in excitement upon hearing of royal guests and dashing into the throne room, he quickly reported to the queen in a series of chirps and blubbers that only the Queen could understand.

"Your Majesty!" He chirped in a squeaky voice. "May I present her royal Majesty, Queen Ellen the Leafeon and her deputation?"

"Yes, you may," she said, then brought her paw to her muzzle and yawned, showing disinterest. Deep inside, her mind was an abyss of wonder. Why did Queen Ellen pay her a visit? Queen Ellen and her kingdom were the most uncommunicative of all kingdoms. Also, Florasia Kingdom and Darkus Kingdom were mortal enemies. This was something Prince Skull had explained to her in one of his letters a long time ago.

**Flashback:-**

Dear Skull,

I don't think alliances with Fairy Kingdom would be beneficial for Darkus. As you know, we are not the most reliable war companions and I barely know any battling tactics myself. So yes, I admit it, if I were to find myself in a battlefield, I'd be a damsel in distress. Entering wedlock with you sounds much more pleasant if you'd agree. You lack nothing to be declared my King and I your Queen.

Oh, and one more thing. I fail to understand your enmity with the Florasia Kingdom. I'm sure you are well aware that my ancestors did absolutely nothing to preserve history of Stardust Kingdom, let alone any other kingdom. So I have no way of knowing but to inquire about it from you. I offer my deepest apologizes if any of this brings back horrid memories and if you find it difficult to share this piece of information, I suppose it would be quite alright.

Yours Truly

Queen Starla

She had sent that letter the very night and waited patiently for his response. As she did so, she recalled her history with him.

Their secret conversation had started when via these letters and back then, neither of them had known that their secret pen pal was actually a royal much like themselves. The day she had confessed her feelings of love to him was also the day she had revealed that she was Queen Starla of the Stardust Kingdom. She had foolishly led herself to believe that there was no way he'd reject her feelings for her after knowing she was a wealthy and beautiful Queen. To her dismay his response had not been the one she had expected.

He had told her that he could not return those feelings because he was actually Prince Skull of the Darkus Kingdom and engaged to Queen Esperanza. Although happy that he was a royal and fit to be her suitor, she couldn't help but cry that he was engaged and loved another. _How could he do this when clearly, I am the fairest in all the lands, fairer than that Espeon!_

The awkwardness had taken time but finally it dissolved and they were fast friends once more. He would tell her about his battles and she would tell him about the balls she had on weekly basis. They were so far apart and in two entirely different worlds. Yet, their hearts were in sync. At least that's how Starla had liked to put it. Prince Skull on the other hand didn't feel the same way.

The news about Esperanza's wedding had been music to her pretty pink ears. She had never been happier in her life. In fact, in celebration, she had thrown a grand ball for all the nobles and the ball had lasted for three nights. But of course, only she knew the actual reason for the grand celebrations. The others just went along with it. For the next few days, she had spent her time trying to console Prince Skull who didn't seem upset at all to her astonishment. Yet, she had made every effort to portray herself as a sincere friend. Only a few weeks later, she had started making romantic advancements towards him. She would give hints in her letters, all of which were always ignored as his letters sounded purely business and serious in all matters.

A short time later after Esperanza's wedding and her supposedly broken engagement, Starla invited him over to her castle. Imagine her delight when he came. She had spent her entire afternoon with him in her limestone garden, listening to him narrate poetry and tell her about ancient battles fought by Darkus and other kingdoms and she took in his every word like the words of a legendary pokemon. She would sit by the limestone fountain while he would describe the world outside of Stardust Kingdom, the world she never knew. Then how he would narrate poetry and explain its meaning to her, leaving her dazzled and enchanted. When he was about to leave, she had made every effort into persuading him to stay at her castle for a few days but he rejected politely, stating he had business to take care of with Florasia kingdom.

Now, it was months later and finally, she had mustered the courage to inquire about Florasia kingdom. She fantasized about him while waiting for him to write back, giggling to herself as she replayed his visit to her kingdom. It wasn't long either because a few minutes later, a Pidove was tapping on her window with his beak, begging to be led in.

As soon as she got her paws on the letter, she clawed it open and read it.

Dear Queen Starla,

I do not plan to put you in a war. Believe me, I wish to make alliances simply because I have befriended you. Your Kingdom is rich in trade and I assume it can serve me well for supplying weapons for my own battles. I would never request you to assist me in battle, not unless it was an extreme emergency but with my kingdom listed in the strongest of kingdoms, I highly doubt if such a day were to come. Also, it would help improve communications between dark-type and fairy-type pokemon in order they might become friends like us. Do we not meet the definition of friends?

Also, Florasia Kingdom is the one I despise the most. It was their king that killed my parents in a war when I was still an Eevee. They are to blame for my sufferings and my miserable life as I was forcefully evolved and then strained to take over the throne. Queen Ellen, the current ruler, did not have a hand in this but since it was her parents that were behind this entire nuisance, I plan to get my vengeance by staining my claws with Ellen's blood. Forgive me for my language. I do not have any other words to put it in.

Yours Truly

Prince Skull

Starla's face dropped into a frown as she read the letter over and over again. There was no response to her proposal on entering a wedlock with him. He had ignored her romantic advances once again. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be completely mad at him. Especially after he had poured his heart out to her in that letter, sharing what could have possibly been his darkest secret.

Her muzzle had a goofy smile plastered on it. She pictured him once more inside her head before beginning to write again.

**Flash back ends:-**

Now, Queen Ellen stood before her, bowing unnecessarily because this formality was for commoners and servants and courtier, not royal guests. The only time Prince Skull had ever bowed to her was when he gazed upon her for the first time and wanted to kiss her paw. That feeling was still fresh in her mind.

"Queen Ellen!" She greeted cheerfully. "I do wonder what brings you to Stardust? Have a seat yes?"

_She is unspeakably jolly, that pretty fair maid. _Queen Ellen thought as she followed the Queen to another room, leaving behind her roserades and Grovyle and the Venusaur they were riding.

"I come with a sole purpose only," Queen Ellen said. She had no desire to involve herself in pleasant conversation with what she labeled a spoiled rich brat who could do anything in the kingdom because of her riches. She probably had many suitors too and though it was hard for her to accept, Ellen had to admit that Starla was way prettier than she ever could be. Being the evolutions of the same pokemon, it didn't feel fair that one of them had evolved into a more elegant and beautiful pokemon.

"Yes, But first, would you like something to eat?" Queen Starla offered politely. "We make the best biscuits, yes?"

_Are they made of Limestone as well? _Ellen grumbled in her thoughts. Then to the Sylveon Queen, she answered: "No, but thank you all the same."

Queen Starla told Spritzee to fetch some anyway and he went on in a blur of pink. She had probably ordered those for herself. _What a peculiar little bird. _Ellen thought then shook the thought away.

"Anyways," Queen Starla said, bringing her attention back to the Leafeon Queen. "What is it that the Leafeon Queens seeks from me?"

Her voice was polite and soft with a hint of squeakiness. This was because she was forcing herself to appear polite when deep inside, she was seething with anger. The Queen of Florasia, the enemy of her beloved, had paid her a visit. To her, Queen Ellen was an uninvited guest. She kept wondering if Prince Skull would finally give her the attention she craved if she were to put an end to Ellen's life right there in her court. But then again, she had never been the one to support bloodshed and was browsing her mind for easier alternatives. Also, Prince Skull would probably prefer to kill her himself.

"I wish to make a proposal to your kingdom," Ellen stated bluntly. "I wish to join hands with Stardust into an alliance. If her Majesty pleases of course."

"Oh but why Stardust?" Queen Starla asked, trying to appear confused. "You do realize we are perhaps the most weakest when it comes to war." Then to provoke a certain reaction, she added; "Why not form an alliance with Darkus. yes? They are one of the strongest kingdoms yes?"

"Yes indeed," Ellen replied quickly, slightly baffled by that accent. "But question me not, your Majesty. I solely wish to join hands with you. The Prince of Darkus is rather cruel to me."

"Cruel you say, yes?" Queen Starla asked. "In what way might I ask?"

"I correct myself," Ellen spoke somberly, bringing her head down. "I think it was rather that we had been cruel to them. Anyways, it was a long, long time ago and I believe Prince Skull is not so keen on making alliances with anyone. May I know of your decision? You don't have to make it immediately though."

By this time, the cookies had arrived and as Ellen had anticipated, they were made of limestone as well. Ellen watched in a mix of disgust and astonishment as Starla munched on the cookies, pretending to think.

"I'll tell you something yes?" Starla said as she had chewed down and swallowed the first cookie. "I'll write to you in a few days and inform you for my decision. Sounds good, yes?"

Ellen sighed internally. She couldn't force this on Queen Starla either. She came here seeking help, not to instigate anger in the fairy-type Queen. "I suppose so then I shall depart on my journey. I'll wait for your answer then, yes?"

"Huh?" Starla blinked. Ellen quickly regretted her words. _ I am in trouble now! _She hadn't meant to copy Starla's accent because now it sounded like she had just insulted the Queen. It was just a force of an old habit.

'I'm sorry," Ellen quickly apologized, bowing her head. "That was purely unintentional."

She relaxed when Starla burst out laughing. "Not to worry yes?"

Ellen stifled as laugh as well. _Maybe this isn't so bad. _She thought and smiled. Queen Starla walked her back to the throne room where she was reunited with her deputation.

* * *

**Ok, happy now. Stardust Kingdom and the Sylveon Queen aren't idle anymore. **

**So what are you waiting for? Review and tell me what you think of her story so far and her role as an Eevee royal?**


	12. Love and War: It's all fair

**Finally, I wrote down this chapter. However, I doubt if it's as good as the next one coming. Anyways, I let you guys read and enjoy!**

**Look out for the facts in the end!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**In Blitz Kingdom:**

King Ampharos had been anxiously waiting for the news on his only and mistakenly exiled daughter's whereabouts in his room. He was pacing frantically from one corner of the golden painted room to another. The sphere on the edge of his tail was surging with the electricity produced by the rush of hormones due to the tension and pressure he was in. Volt was supposed to arrive hours ago from the Aurora Kingdom with the news whether Sapphire was seeking refuse with Queen Esperanza or not.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a Menetric walked in, breathing heavily. "Your Majesty!" he reported in a manly growl. "Prince Volt has returned."

"Sent for him in the court room," King Ampharos declared and proceeded to go for the door. Apparently, Menetric wasn't finished with the message he came with. He stood tall and held his head high. He then proceeded to deliver the rest of the message he had brought from Prince Volt.

"Sire," He said. "Prince Volt wishes to gain some rest before presenting himself in your exalted presence with the results."

King Ampharos thought for a moment then sighed. Volt was right in his request to be allowed to rest. He had a long journey after all. King Ampharos reluctantly agreed. "Very well," he replied. "What is the word about the result anyway?"

The Menetric hesitated for a moment, not sure how the king would take it. But since he was just an ordinary servant, he was bound to answer. "His highness has made an alliance with the Aurora kingdom," Menetric reported. After spilling it out, he held his breath, waiting for the response. Either the king would dismiss him without any particular reaction, to which he would be thankful, or end up blowing out in anger, which was bad. Menetric was only too glad when he met with the former.

"Thank you," The King said politely. 'You may leave."

Menetric sighed in relief, then bowed his head in respect and left the King to himself. Whatever King Ampharos had in mind regarding the situation, it would be revealed in the evening when the King would confront his son on his expedition. If Prince Volt had made a mistake, it would be dealt with.

Volt, who had just returned from the journey, did not feel like in the mood to talk this over with his father. The plan he had in mind was carefully thought out. The only thing he had to do was put his father on a false trail once again until he would achieve his goal: To kill Sapphire and put an end to her once and for all.

Volt was in his room. He lied on his back on his bed with his four paws in the air and he breathed heavily, smiling menacingly to himself. He had dismissed all the six Luxrays who had travelled with him to the Aurora Kingdom and after sending the message to his father, he crashed in his room and tried to relax his muscles. His muscles were tensed, eager for a fight, eager to release all the electricity that had built up inside of them and had no means of getting out unless Volt used some kind of move. The Royal Advisor, Pachirisu, quickly climbed the bed of the prince and looked down at Volt with a worried expression. Although Volt had told him about the alliance with Aurora Kingdom, the royal advisor was very much frightened because he knew that Prince Volt had a much more sinister meaning behind this untimely and unplanned alliance. This, like all of his previous plans, was of course to be centered on the assassination of Princess Sapphire.

"Ah Pachirisu," Volt addressed him, rolling over onto his stomach. "I am glad I am in your company. Do massage my back. I am awfully tired with my travels."

"I understand Your highness," Pachirisu replied, bobbing his head in a low bow. _I was with you all the time. How do you think I feel about weariness?_

Making his way to where the Prince was lying with his head resting between the paws of his front legs, Pachirisu turned around and began to massage the prince by thumping his back with the curl of his tail. The smile on the Prince's muzzle was signal enough that he was enjoying this treatment and it was helping him relax. Pachirisu thought it was time for the rapid fire. It was time to find out what the Prince was really planning.

"Your Highness?" He asked earnestly, keeping his tone balanced as to not show anger or any kind of sarcasm that he was feeling inside. 'Would you mind if I inquire about the reason you made alliances with Queen Esperanza and her kingdom?"

"Why do you ask my dear friend?" Volt chuckled, clearly amused by the most obvious question he had coming. "Is it not good to have an alliance these days?" It wasn't hard for him to guess that Pachirisu would be the first to ask. And as always, Pachirisu would be the first and only to know of the Prince's true intentions.

"Yes it is," Pachirisu replied a little hesitantly. He began to thump slower and harder on to the back of the Prince. "I agree with you wholeheartedly. But I was wondering. What good would it do to be in an alliance with a kingdom that has no desire to fight and only fights in defense?"

Volt chuckled again. Then took a deep breath and spoke: "She has seen Sapphire!"

Pachirisu's eyes widened. It was the part that the Prince had hidden from him; Or rather a part of a bigger part of the story that he had hidden from him. Suppressing his astonishment, Pachirisu questioned the Prince further regarding the matter, starting with the first thing that came in his mind.

"Is it true then?" He asked the Prince. "Was Sapphire really in Aurora Kingdom? Did you leave her behind on purpose then?"

Volt laughed slowly, closing his eyes. "No, she is not in Aurora Kingdom," he replied with a hint of humor in his voice. "But she has been spotted by Queen Esperanza in the Battle she had with Darkus."

"So she is in Darkus?" Pachirisu asked and the Prince nodded. "So what is your plan your Highness."

Volt gave a yawn. Clearly he was tired from his long journey and Pachirisu's interrogations weren't helping. "I made alliance with Aurora Kingdom so I can lead a battle against Darkus. If Sapphire showed up once, she is bound to show up again in the next battle. Then, I shall have my chance to kill her."

Pachirisu, although sickened to the core of his heart by the Prince's ill intentions, found himself out of courage to speak against the matter. He didn't question the Prince further. He kept massaging his back in utter silence until Volt had fallen asleep.

**That evening….**

Whether he liked it or not, Volt had this coming. Sooner or later, he had to go report the entire mission to his father. Having rested peacefully all afternoon, he found himself in high spirits and ready to confront his father and tell him everything; tell him everything with a twist of his own that is.

His fur was standing on its ends, sparking with electricity that needed to be led out. Volt had spent quite a long time, trying to get his fur to sit down and make him look his natural self, not aggressive. It wasn't working. Fed up with his spiky hair and their wild electrical surge, he threw open his window and with all the energy he could muster, he lashed out all the electricity from the fur into the open air. He was able to keep up his thunderbolt for much longer than he had ever remembered. Finally, feeling the intensity of the electricity in his fur settling down, he withdrew his attack and closed his window. He had accidently hit a few innocent Pidoves and even watched them fall to the ground and break their necks but he couldn't care less about their wellbeing. _They probably died _he thought.

With that out of the way, he swept out of his room in a yellow blur, dodging between the people standing in the corridors or just passing through. Being the smooth runner that he was, he made it to the throne room in the shortest time possible without knocking over a single pokemon. Taking a deep breath, he entered the room and walked down the red carpet and knelt before his father.

"Welcome back my child," King Ampharos greeted him brusquely. Volt raised his head and looked up at his father.

"I hear you made an alliance with Aurora Kingdom," King Apmpharos growled. "May I ask the reason behind this?"

"Father, I ask of you," Volt said as politely as he could. "Is it wrong to have an alliance these days when we are running wars?"

"No, not in the slightest," King Ampharos replied. "But I sent you to find your sister. Not find yourself a bride."

"Rest assured father that I do not harbor any romantic feelings towards her Majesty Esperanza," He said rather quickly. It almost seemed like he was defending himself. "And I certainly do not plan to make her my bride. She is already married."

A few of the female servants in the courtroom snickered at this but their laughs were barely audible. Volt was a charmer alright with his natural good looks and riches, but given his wrenched heart, he wasn't the kind to savor the feelings of love. Not everyone can find love.

"Moving on," King Ampharos said, glaring at the servants that immediately wiped their smiles away. "Any news on your Sapphire?"

"I am deeply grieved to say that no," Volt answered, faking a frown when his lips really just wanted to curl upwards in a snaky smile. "I had been mistaken. She is not in Aurora Kingdom after all."

A few minutes of silence fell upon the court. King Ampharos pondered over this, then finally spoke: "I suppose we are out of leads then Volt."

Volt snickered. It was time to put his plan into action. "Are we now, father?" He said, smiling pleasantly. King Ampharos looked at him in bewilderment, and then motioned with his head for the Prince to continue.

"Well Father," He said. "I do believe that in the battle of Trig, Aurora Kingdom fought against Darkus Kingdom. I have a feeling that it was Prince Skull who found Sapphire and took her with him instead of Queen Esperanza."

"Prince Skull you say?" King Ampharos replied. "I don't think so. If he had encountered Sapphire, he would have had Sapphire beheaded the very minute. She was an ice pokemon and Aurora Kingdom did lead the battle with an ice-type army."

"That would imply she is dead," Volt said grimly. No matter how much he wanted, this was not true. By what Esperanza had told him, Sapphire was very much alive. So Volt added: "Maybe not father. Maybe Prince Skull spared her."

"I find it very difficult to believe," The King stated uncertainly. Volt jumped in.

"But, it is our only lead," he said. "As long as hope remains, we shall search."

The King wasn't entirely convinced about this idea but decided to trust his son on this, which was a huge mistake. Volt was bent upon killing Sapphire and with Ampharos's permission, there was nothing holding him back from accomplishing his brutal pursuit.

"Very well then Volt," Ampharos said, addressing the kneeling Jolteon. "You may write to your beloved and lead the battle."

"Thank you Father," Volt said grimly, kneeling. He muttered under his breath through gritted teeth: She is not my beloved!

**In Aquanesia Kingdom:**

Aquila, the Vaporeon queen was in her room, facing her shell-shaped mirror. Three woopers were standing around her. One of them was brushing the white ruff around her neck. One of them was filing her nails using a pearl white seashell. The last one was polishing her tail with a blue glittering stone. They were her maids, dressing her up for the Ceremony of the Ancients.

"You're all ready My lady," The tallest wooper, the one brushing her ruff, said. The woopers slowly took a few steps back. Aquila nodded to them, dismissing them. The bowed their heads and in a flurry of blue, swam out of the queen's room.

Kingdra, the royal Advisor of Aquila, came inside. He cleared his throat. "You Majesty?" He called to her, floating next to the door. She turned and walked over to him, a smile on her muzzle.

"Yes, I am ready," She replied. He nodded his head, then escorted her to the courtroom where the Aquanesia Kingdom was going to have its Ceremony of the Ancients. Aquila was half merry half anxious. For one, she had had no trouble in ruling her kingdom for the past month. Palkia, the legendary pokemon they worshipped, had ordered her to refrain from any fighting and she had done so without any trouble. Thankfully, the presumed attack on her kingdom from the Blitz Kingdom had also not taken place. This meant that the kingdom was spared of an unnecessary war. However, she knew that by now, it is possible that Palkia might encourage her into conquering a kingdom. This seemed like the most likely possibility. Many wars had been reported to have taken place in the past month and it was likely that each kingdom fought on the command of their respective legendary pokemon. It was almost inevitable that Palkia would be thinking the same thing.

She entered the throne room and walked down the aqua blue carpet of the throne room. Her army of Milotics, Huntails, Feraligators and Blastoises were all waiting for her, standing in files of their respective species and kneeling in wait of the queen. Mudkip, the other royal advisor was also present, waiting out front for the Queen and Kingdra to join him.

When Aquila reached the front, Mudkip took up his position behind her on her right, opposed to kingdra on her left and they both lowered their heads. Aquila kneeled down as well.

A portal with swirling pink mist and pearls appeared in front of them and then, a screeching howl was heard. After that, Palkia slowly emerged from the portal. First came his head, then that white body with its glowing pink lines running down his shoulder's and then the giant tail. The portal closed behind him and he gave a loud growl, then craned his neck to level with Aquila.

"Aquila, you may rise," he ordered her and she looked up, gazing into his fierce pink eyes that seemed to be burning with anger over something she didn't know about. She had a pretty good idea she was going to find out anyway.

"Palkia," she said, addressing him. "Everything is as you pleased. Aquanesia has refrained from any fights as per your command."

"I am aware of that," Palkia bellowed, bubbles swirling all around him. He blinked slowly as he gazed down on the small Vaporeon standing before him. "However, what I wish to discuss with you, is something else entirely."

Aquila's muscles tensed up. "What is it, My Lord?" She asked, stuttering a bit. She never stuttered when she conversed with the legendary pokemon. But then again, she had never done anything in doubt that it might anger him. Even before the ceremony began, she had been anxious whether Palkia would approve of her friendship with a land pokemon, more precisely, King Blaze of Frere Kingdom.

"Aquila, is there something you wish to tell me?" Palkia growled. "Something about a fire pokemon?"

Aquila gulped. "Y-yes, My Lord," she replied hesitantly. "There is no use shielding this from your eyes. I have indeed befriended a fire pokemon."

Palkia was silent for a few minutes which didn't help to relax the frightened Queen. She stayed still, breathing slowly and waiting for Palkia to tell her whether it was a huge mistake or a welcomed accomplishment.

"I have nothing against this friendship," Palkia stated bluntly. "But, you feel something more towards him. You fancy him, don't you Aquila?"

_No use lying, he'd know anyway. _Aquila thought as she felt her cheeks growing hot. Somehow, she managed to counter her little crush with other feelings so that her blush wouldn't appear on her cheeks. It worked.

"Y-yes, I actually do," Aquila finally spoke after getting herself back together. "King Blaze really did win my heart."

"I see," Palkia replied, blinking slowly. "But, you want to be with him on land. So I ask with that in mind, what does your underwater world lack for you to desire such a thing?"

"Love crosses all barriers!" She practically screamed this but the legendary wasn't offended. He listened with his full attention. "And I believe he won't want me to abandon my kingdom to earn his love!"

"Yes," Palkia said manipulatively. "But if you marry him, you'd be his queen. You'd have to live in his palace, on land. You would belong to him."

Aquila was stunned. Her heart was shattering at those thoughts. Why hadn't they occurred to her yet? Simple, because she had been lost in her fantasy with Blaze. She wasn't even sure if he felt the same way about her, whether he fancied her or some other fire pokemon or whether he had been completely honest with her on that one day he had spent with her. Now that Palkia said it, it was impossible to avoid those thoughts. She took in a heavy breath, and sighed.

"We'll find a way," she said, assuring herself more than actually answering the legendary. Palkia gave a growl.

"That my dear is impossible," Palkia growled. "Don't fall for something as petty as love. It does not exist. Don't let your heart weaken at its thought. It will destroy you internally."

Aquila looked down. "What do you ask of me to do?" She asked solemnly. She didn't want to talk about Blaze anymore.

"To lead a war against the Frere Kingdom," Palkia said, emotionlessly. A gasp involuntarily escaped Aquila's mouth. Palkia gave her a sinister smile, then added: "It will help heal your broken heart. Do as I say Aquila. Or consequences won't be pretty."

The portal appeared behind him again. Palkia gave another screeching growl, deafening the people in the courtroom, then he disappeared into the swirl of pink. The portal vanished, leaving behind a broken hearted queen and two worried royal advisors. Aquila's legs gave way and she crashed on her front paws, her tail sprawled behind her. She was gasping for air, her eyes wide with fear and horror.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Kingdra and Mudkip squealed simultaneously, worried for the Queen's health. Still gasping, she held up a paw, telling them to stay back. They took a step back reluctantly, their brows furrowed with worry.

"You Majesty?' Kingdra asked her, titled his head to see if she was hurt. It seemed that she was somewhere else entirely. She didn't want to fight Frere. But Palkia had ordered her to and because of that, she had to. _Or consequences won't be pretty. _His words boomed in her head.

"Prepare the army," she ordered grimly, fury and hatred burning in those blue eyes. Somehow, Mudkip couldn't bring himself to accept that this fury she felt was for the Frere Kingdom or King Blaze. By the look on her face, it seemed like she was in some sort of trance. Aquila slowly stood up, regaining her strengths as she found herself recovering from the shock. _He is right. Why did I let myself believe that something as beautiful as love could happen to me? I have been deprived of it all my life._

"Your Majesty, are you sure?" Mudkip asked hesitantly. Aquila nodded, frowning.

"Yes," She said, yelling so that the entire army in the room could hear. "You heard Palkia's orders. Who are we to deny our savior? Who distorted space to bring our kingdom into existence? Sharpen your weapons! We fight Frere!"

The army in the courtroom roared, acknowledging her orders. Aquila turned her head away from them and looked down on the pearl floors of the throne room. _I'm so sorry Blaze _She mumbled. Small Bubbles squirmed around her eyes; she was crying.

* * *

**First of all, I apologize for any spelling or grammatical mistake. I did proofread it, but I am not actually the legendary pokemon Cresselia. I am human!**

**Ok, as promised. I am going to share some facts regarding the story. Since you guys all hate Volt (Or appreciate his character as a villain) Here is one about him:**

**Volt was originally intended as a good character and a sincere, loyal and loving brother to Sapphire. When she was exiled, he was suppose to sneak out in the night, find her and guide her all the way to Darkus. Skull and Volt were supposed to be old friends and on Volt's request, Skull promises to watch over his sister. Volt also warns Skull to not fall in love with Sapphire as he would be would be back for her. So basically, Volt was going to save Sapphire's life. Which changed drastically. **

**Sapphire's name is corresponding to Ruby from **_**Thunder and Ice**_**, an Eevee fanfic by my friend ShadowSnivy! I liked Ruby's character so much as a villian, I wanted to make a counter character to her. Thus, Sapphire the Glaceon Princess!**

**Starla's accent is supposed to imply that she is French. **

**Instead of being a peace loving Queen, Esperanza was suppose to by a psychopath and the actual villain to the story.**

**Aquila's name was originally going to be Aquatica. I just didn't want a anme in affliction with the word 'Aqua' anymore.**

**Thanks for reading guys! I appreciate all your reviews and I'm hoping you'd take time to review this chapter as well. Expect major drama now that two lovers are going in war against each other!**


	13. Drag me to war!

**Sorry if this is coming out really late but here it is. Now, you will finally learn about Queen Starla's response to the alliance proposal my Queen Ellen. And the situation in other kingdoms. I'll leave you guys to find out.**

**Chapter 13**

"_Search for me! You'll find me for sure. For sure."_

"_Wait! I beg of you!" Sapphire screamed once again. The scenery around her was tilting. The Glaciers around her began to fade away from existence. The voice, the voice that she could label as familiar now, was also dying out. It sounded like it was far away now, echoing the same words in her ear as it had for the past weeks. The voice was still telling her to find him, without even giving the slightest of clues as to where to even begin the search of this mysterious pokemon. This was too familiar. It had happened many times before. Nothing was new to her, only, the identity of the pokemon speaking to her was still a mystery._

"_I need a hint!" Sapphire called out, hoping he'd hear her, even if she could barely hear him now. "Give me a sign! Where do I begin?!"_

_The voice didn't answer, which was also not new to her. The same words kept echoing, ringing in her ears and leaving her in a mix of horror, depression and frustration, the last being the strongest of the three. Tears found their way down her cheek and froze there; making small smudges on her blue face. She didn't attempt to claw them away. Soon she would awaken from this dream, or rather a nightmare, and she will be back in reality; back in Darkus Kingdom with Prince Skull the Umbreon and the Darkus pokemon._

Glace groaned and turned to her other side on the bed. Her tail twitched uncomfortably as it had gone numb from the weight of her body last night. As she laid still, her ears perked up involuntarily and she tried to listen to usual sounds of the people walking down the corridors, talking about the Prince or discussing their past battles or even trivial matters like "Why do Blitz pokemon wear Yellow?"

Silence. That was all she got. A weird feeling of worry tingled her senses, jarring her awake. The hallway outside was never quiet. There were always some noises of pokemon walking down, the giggles and chatters of the royal servants and low whispers albeit barely audible or even the guards talking in their loud, gruff and manly voices. Then there was the rare occasion of when the kingdom was preparing for battle. Then the hallway would be roaring with the noises of pokemon handing around weapons and giving orders, making a rampant which would make it impossible for any sane pokemon to get some shut eye.

Forcing herself awake, she blinked several times and stretched herself. _Where is everyone? _She asked to no one in particular, then after giving her fur a quick brush, she slowly creaked open her door to peek outside. In her heart, she was hoping her eyes would meet with the reassuring vision of the pokemon in the hallway but when she did look out, it felt like she was the only pokemon there or possibly, the only pokemon in that entire sector of the castle. Fear brushed her senses and she took her steps back and went to the window of the room. Looking outside, she saw the Darkus army of Zoroarks, Mightyenas, Liepards and Houndooms standing in files, holding their heads high. It was a sign enough for the Glaceon to know that they were headed for a war. A flashback came in her mind as she remembered Skull telling her that he had to make preparations for a war against the fossil kingdom as per the command of Giratina. She quivered as the image of Giratina popped into her mind, then shaking away his thoughts; she dashed out of the room in her hasty attempt to catch up with Prince Skull before he departed for the journey.

Panting for breath, she kept her legs at a move as she swept down the corridor, then slide down the wooden handles along the stairs and jumped to her feet at the ends, making a smooth landing. She didn't go inside the throne room. She was afraid he might have already left the throne room and was on his way to join his army and then lead them to the location. If that really was the case, then going to the throne room would be like wasting the precious gift of Dialga; time. Other than that, she thought if she went directly down to the ground where the army was, she'd have a better chance of catching him before he left. After all, if he was in the throne room, he was bound to show up outside to meet with the army and then, there would be no way for Glace to miss him.

In a matter of few minutes, she was down in the garden, her sides heaving as she drew in heavy breaths in wait of the Prince. She stood behind the army and though all of them had sensed her presence, none of them turned to look at her in case they disturbed the discipline they were holding. A few mightyena's gave a flick of their tail to assure her that they knew she was there and that she didn't need to be afraid or hide from them because she wasn't breaking any laws by being there. Lucky for her, Skull wasn't there yet. She could see in between the files that he was not standing out on the front, which meant that he had yet to join them.

Prince Skull came along shortly, wearing his Gold armor on the legs, ears and tail. Absol followed along behind. His blade looked extra sharp and Glace concluded that he must have had it sharpened on the metal spinning wheel like the Mightyenas sharpen their claws before battles. When Skull saw Glace, he stopped in his track for a few minutes and gave her a confuse look. Then he slowly walked to her and stood face-to-face with her, boring into her eyes with his own.

"Lady Glace?" He inquired from her, speaking softly. "Is something the matter?"

"Not really," she mumbled, feeling a little uncomfortable in the presence of so many pokemon. "I was wondering if I could go with you to this battle."

Skull was astonished but being the master of his emotions and expressions, he did not let it show. Instead, he kept up the blank look he had and pretended to think, leaving Glace with her breath. "Why do you want to come with me?" He asked her. "Are you not frightened by your previous experience Lady Glace?"

"Frightened?" she asked, looking down. She studied her paws sadly. _I'm frightened to the core about what has become of my life. How did I go from a beloved princess to a weakling, living under the shadows of others?_

"I am many things but frightened Prince Skull," she lied. "Astonished, baffled, even motivated for more but frighten is not one of them. Please! I kneel to you. Allow me to accompany you once again." She bowed her head and knelt on her front legs.

Prince Skull was lost for words behind this strange logic the Glaceon was presenting. "Very well Lady Glace," he said with a hint of reluctance in his voice that was barely detectable. "I shall respect your wishes."

She looked up and smiled. He walked a short distance and Absol came from behind. He smiled and nodded his head to Glace and she joined Skull on his left side and the three made to the front of the army. Absol gave the message and soon, the Darkus army was marching to the Fossil Kingdom. Skull led the army in utter silence, revising his mission inside his head. He kept trying to focus on Giratina's words. He found it impossible to put his mind onto the mission when his heart kept steering him to think about Glace. _What drives her to fight? What powers up the emotions? What is she trying to prove and even if she is, what has she got to prove? And to whom? For what?_

Glace on the other hand was thinking about her dream. The voice had repeatedly asked her to search for him. She knew that if she wanted to search, she had to get out of Darkus. Running away wasn't exactly the answer and if she were to share her dream with Skull, he was bound to inquire about her past. The past that she wasn't fond of and the past she had been running away from for a long time. The only excuse she had was to accompany him in battles to faraway lands in her secret search. And that's what she did.

**In Stardust Kingdom:-**

Queen Starla, the Slyveon queen was lying on her back on a giant velvet cushion in her room. Her posture was clearly not an ethical one for a royal but she didn't care as she was all alone. Spritzee the royal advisor of the Queen was hovering in the sky, radiating that aura of cheerfulness around him as he flew from one corner of the room to another in a blur of pink, squawking like mad as he went over Starla's schedule.

"You have to meet with the demand of the pheasants," he jittered quickly, too fast for anyone to catch a word. "Then you have to deal with the silk trade law, and see to the expansions of the limestone sculpture trade. The ball? Oh yes! The ball! How could we forget! We must get you ready for the ball! There will the dukes, and the landlords and oh, and the noblemen and-"

His super fast chirping was cut short by the loud sigh from Starla, followed by a smile that curled up on her muzzle, making her pretty features even more attractive. Queen Starla was regarded as the prettiest maiden in all of land, followed by Queen Esperanza. It was one of the things she never understood. How did Skull chose Esperanza over her when she was clearly prettier then the Espeon? She sighed again and rolled over onto her side on the velvet cushion, the smile never leaving her. Spritzee dashed over to her face and squawked, making her gasp, then giggle.

"Starla fancies Skull! Star fancies Skull!" he chirped loudly and teased her, making her groan in frustration. When he continued, she was forced to laugh and blush.

"Be quiet yes!" She scolded but her constant giggles didn't make her appear serious. "Someone will hear you, yes! We don't want that, yes!" Spritzee, finally calming down, slowly flew down to her side.

"Is something wrong Your Majesty?" He chirped. It was hard to tell whether he was worried or joking with his squeaky voice. But Starla had mastered the art of understanding him and she was sure he was worried rather than joking on her plight.

"I was thinking about Queen Ellen," Starla told her bird companion pokemon. "She will be waiting for my answer, yes?"

"Yes indeed," Spritzee replied. "Has the Queen thought up her answer to their proposal?"

Starla sighed again. "Yes," she said. "I was thinking not to make the alliance because Skull would me infuriated, yes?"

"Yes, he would be," Spritzee agreed. "Do you want me to send the message of refusal?"

Starla rolled over to her other side and Spritzee flew to the other side to meet her eye. "I'm not very sure though," she breathed, looking sad. "I mean, if I did turn them down, there is a possibility they could lay besiege to my empire, yes?"

Spritzee thought for a moment. "I suppose," he mumbled. "But then Prince Skull would come to save you and then there is no way he could deny the fact that is deeply in love with you."

Queen Starla instantly blushed at this comment. She quickly cleared her throat and spoke: "But he is not in love with me!"

"Oh Prince Skull is the master of emotions," Spritzee said, exasperated. "Even if he did feel anything special for you, he would have shadowed it easily."

"I suppose you're right," she said. "But Skull told me in his last letter that he had other matters to take care of and he won't be writing to me for a long time. If he really cared, would he not desire to write to me from wherever he went? I think so, yes."

A few minutes of silence followed between the two friends as Starla pondered over the big question: to enter or not to enter alliance with Florasia. She rolled over onto her back and put all four of her legs into the air, thinking deeply. She sighed and Spritzee looked up.

"I want to prove myself helpful to Skull yes?" Starla said, not looking at the royal advisor. "I believe Ellen might just be my opportunity yes?" Spritzee didn't understand where the Queen of Stardust was headed, so he just hovered in the sky and kept his beak sealed, waiting for her to go on and explain the idea of this.

"I clearly understand that Skull wants Ellen dead," Starla said. By now, it was clear that she didn't care if Spritzee was even listening. She stood up and began pacing around the room as she babbled on, speaking the rest of her mind. "I believe what we need is a trap yes? If I could just somehow hand Ellen over to Skull, I would be able to help him bring an end to the Florasia Queen. Then perhaps, he'd respect me enough and as a gratitude, offer to take my hand in marriage!" She squealed at the last part, a wide grin breaking out on her muzzle. "It's marvelous yes?"

Spritzee understood the whole idea. He didn't speak against it because just like Starla, he was convinced that the Leafeon Queen Ellen was evil. "So we make the alliance?" He said, hovering over to her side once again.

Starla gave him the best evil smirk she could muster and nodded her head. "Yes, me think so yes!" Spritzee had orders now. Bowing once to the queen in the name of formalities, he flew out of the room to get on with the task. The kingdom of Florasia and the Kingdom of Stardust were going to enter an alliance, clearly on the grounds of the future murder of Queen Ellen, the last ruler of Florasia with no heir.

**In Frere Kingdom:-**

King Blaze was tensed. He sat on the throne with his head held high and his eyes closed. His ears refused to settle down and were standing on ends as if he was paralyzed. The only movements he made were the rising and falling of his chest as he took in deep breaths, trying to keep calm while thinking. Silence seemed to be governing the court as the pokemon around didn't utter a word, even in whispers. Everyone was tensed. The air was surprisingly hotter, even for a place that was practically built inside a volcano. The court had received news about their broken alliance with the Aerial Kingdom. Although greatly grieved by the insensitivity of the Unfezant king, they had to move on. Now, Frere Kingdom had to fight its battles alone, unless they came up with an alternative solution. It was not happening because even with thirty minds thinking simultaneously, including the highly intelligent one of Fennekin the court genius, there seemed to be no other way but to fight the battle against Blitz alone. The most obvious solution they had salvaged was to make a new alliance but which kingdom to make an alliance with? Their choices had been limited down when they discovered that most kingdoms were very far and distant from them and communications would be immensely slow, which would make it impossible for either of the empires to help each other on time in case of an attack.

"How about we make an alliance with the Darkus Kingdom?" Fennekin suggested. Her suggestion was met by a combined gasp from everyone in the court room except for Blaze. What Fennekin had suggested was impossible but Blaze had faith in her. So wasn't fazed. There had to a reasonable explanation behind this and he would find out upon inquiry.

"Fennekin," he said. "I do not understand. Darkus is known for not making alliances. Their prince, Prince Skull is rather heartless and thoughtless of others. He wouldn't defend us in need nor expect our help to fight battles. Care to elaborate your reason for this proposal?"

Fennekin turned to him and cleared her throat. "Well," she began in a serious tone. "I have heard 'rumors' that the Blitz Kingdom is planning their next attack on Darkus Kingdom. If we were to go to their kingdom with this news, I believe they'd consider our proposal and might enter the alliance to battle Blitz with us."

"Interesting," Blaze said. "But should we be willing to take the risk on the basis of these rumors? They could be wrong."

Fennekin nodded her head. "I'm aware of that," she replied. "But they need not know whether it's true or not. We'd march together against Blitz Kingdom and they'd march in defense against our combined forces. In the end, the battle will take place ad we will get our revenge. Our only mission is that Prince Skull does not discover that Blitz Kingdom never plan to attack them before the war. If the rumors are not true."

King Blaze thought for a moment. The plan sounded a bit treacherous but then again, who was really playing this war game fair? Certainly not the Blitz Kingdom and the Darkus Kingdom. "It's devious," he said in a grim tone. "It's perfect!"

It was very much decided that Frere was going to attempt the impossible. They were going to propose alliance to Darkus.

**Three days later:**

The Darkus army stood still. The sun was high up in the sky and the heat was intense. This kind of environment would normally be intolerable to dark-type pokemon who dwelled in the shadow of coal black clouds. But for someone who was frustrated, they clearly did a good job at not showing it. Prince Skull stood, facing this huge pit in the ground that stretched for miles ahead of him. It seemed endless, whether it was on the horizon, or down below their feet. Glace was looking curiously at Prince Skull. Everyone seemed relaxed. Only, she wasn't relaxed. Looking up at him was keeping her from questioning this eerie and untimely silence, or about the giant hole in the ground.

After waiting a few more minutes, she had had enough and decided to break the ice. "Is this it?" she asked him earnestly. "Is this the fossil kingdom?"

Skull took in a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. "No. But we are close." He informed her. She looked down at the bottomless pit. _This can't be it? I don't see any castle or a city._

As if he had read her mind, Skull began to explain. "The fossil Kingdom," he told her. "Is down there." With his paw, he flicked a rock down the pit. Glace saw it drown in the underground darkness of the pit. She kept listening for the sound of the rock hitting the bottom but when her ears met with the silence, horror took over her conscious.

_Are we really going to jump down there!? _

**I am almost reaching hundred reviews! Gosh, this got real famous real quick! I love you guys who are all following this and are reading my story!**

**Ok, review this chapter guys! I'm hoping that reviews on this will help me reach 100 reviews that I had been hoping for since the beginning! And know that you guys rock!**

**Next chapter: The battle against fossil kingdom! Be there!**


	14. Battle of Underworlds

**WOOOHOOO! I reached a hundred reviews! And thanks so much Starrynight173 and ShadowSnicy for throwing me a party for it!**

**And thanks everyone else who is reading this! It means a lot!**

**So here is the chapter about Darkus versus Fossil Kingdom.**

**This chapter is called Battle of Underworlds because it the battle between Darkus Kingdom and Fossil Kingdom. Darkness is closely related to underworld so there is that. Then the battle takes place in an underground cavern with pokemon that dwell underground so they are kind of like underworld. Now, Nobody asks me why it is called battle of Underworld, ok?**

**Onwards wither then.**

* * *

**Chapter 14:**

Glace looked down the bottomless pit, blinking in awe. It was beyond her why it wasn't such a big deal to anyone else in the army except for her. _Could it be that they have been here before? _She thought to herself. Yes, it was the most likely explanation that the Darkus kingdom must have led a battle against the Fossil Kingdom in the past before.

"Forgive me for asking such a trivial question," Glace said to Skull as the three backed away to a little safer distance from the edge of the pit. "How do we get down there?"

Absol and Skull maintained their same blank expressions at this statement. It wasn't anything new that this person did not know anything about the Fossil Kingdom. This was yet another hint for Prince Skull who was slowly trying to piece her story together. _She must have come from far away if she doesn't know about the Fossil Kingdom. _He thought then sighed before turning to his army. This was signal enough for Absol that the Prince was going to order the army to commence their plans regarding their journey down into the pit.

The Army of Mightyenas, Liepards, Zoroarks, Hydriegon and Houndooms got the signal. On cue, the Liepards took speed and jumped down the pit. Glace gasped at the vision, watching the army pokemon plunge into the very vision of death but then decided otherwise because just like anyone else, she was not the kind to question Prince Skull's judgment. He saw her horrified and flabbergasted look and took his place on her side. Absol went along with orders and told the Hydriegons to carry the Houndooms and Mightyenas down. The Zoroarks changed forms and turned into Hydriegons and helped with the task as well. Suddenly, it seemed that the army mostly only did constitute of Hydreigons. Glace had heard of the Zoroark's shape shifting nature but had never seen it happen before. To her, it was an amazing sight.

Another question rose in Glace's mind. If Liepards could jump down, why couldn't the rest? As if reading her mind, Skull answered her question without her even addressing him.

"Liepards are extremely agile," he told her, looking over to his army as they continued to descendent into the underground darkness. "Their legs are strong built, making it easy for them to always land on their paws."

"I see," Glace said, trying to not sound nervous. "How do we get down?"

"We ride a Hydreigon," He told her as Absol came along and joined them, followed by a Hydreigon. Glace couldn't tell if it really was a real Hydriegon or a Zoroark disguised as one but it didn't matter whichever he was because either way, the plan to get down would work. The Hydreigon bowed low, the heads on his hands touching the ground, and Skull, Glace and Absol easily climbed his back. With pure elegance and swift flying, he took to the skies first, then dived all-three-heads first down the pit and the pokemon descended into darkness. At first, Glace had this strange feeling in her stomach that they might never come to the bottom and nervousness and fright took over her conscious. Suddenly, with a jolt, she felt the dragon beneath her land on a flat ground, which helped relax her nerves because now, they really were at the bottom.

It took a while but in the end, it seemed that the entire army was now down the pit. A Hydreigon reported to Absol that none of the Darkus pokemon were above the surface anymore, which confirmed it. Absol gave another command and Glace watched patiently as it was obeyed. Simultaneously, the Zoroarks used Flamethrowers and lighted the torches the army had brought along with them. The Hydriegons took the torches from them and flew up in the cavern, lighting the place up. Slowly, the underground world came into view to be observed.

Now, Glace could clearly see that the pit they were inside was nothing grand. In fact, it was just as plain on the inside as the desert outside it on the surface. The walls of this underground cavern were built of ordinary ground and the place seemed to be dug into place. Ancient legends said that the pokemon that the ground-types worshiped had forged this world with its own tail. Long ago, with a single movement of his majestic tail, a huge earthquake occurred and the world of the Fossil Kingdom was created within a fortnight.

Looking down at her feet, Glace realized that they were once again standing at the edge of a ledge and with the lack of light; the ground below gave her a serious déjà vu. _Is there no end to this pit? _She thought as she scrambled to take a few steps back in fear of fainting and stumbling down. As she looked up ahead, she saw that there was a second platform a long distance from the first one and jumping it would be insane. As she craned her neck up, she realized that this platform was extremely dangerous and if imbalanced, it would topple down and crumple. The platform ended only a few meters ahead and then, it also resulted in a dead end of a ledge that led down the bottomless pit. On careful observations, she spotted yet another stone platform ahead, approximately the same distance as the first one was from them. Her eyes widened. _So we have to jump across these platforms to get to the other side?_

She wasn't the only one who was in shock. As she turned to Absol and Skull, she saw that they were equally surprised by this strange arrangement that Fossil Kingdom had made to welcome their guest, which, in her opinion, looked anything but welcoming. She concluded in her head that this wasn't exactly the way it had been the last time the Darkus Kingdom led a battle against the Fossil Kingdom. So basically, this structure was cleverly crafted for protection later on.

"They have been redecorating," Prince Skull stated, clearly not humored. This confirmed the thought she had from the beginning. Darkus indeed had been to Fossil Kingdom before. Skull's brows were furrowed as he tried to hatch an idea to get pass those dangerous platforms. The Liepards, Mightyena's and Houndooms could very well jump across but the platforms looked too unstable to hold their weights. They could fly across them but then, the Hydriegons won't be able to hold up their lights if they carried each pokemon and it could result in an ambush. If the Fossil pokemon were clever enough to design such a defense system, clearly they were not stupid enough to not keep an eye on it. Even if they didn't, Prince Skull was not going to take a chance._ Too risky_ He thought.

"What do we do now?" Absol asked, awaiting orders. Skull continued to think. Glace, wondering how she could be of assistance, tried to think of a way to get across. It seemed that she wasn't much of a help. _I'm just an ordinary Glaceon. What can I do? _She told herself.

Then suddenly, it zapped her in the head like she had had a revelation from Zekrom himself. _Of course! Why didn't I think that!? _She trotted happily towards where Skull was standing, deep in thought. She had a brilliant idea and was eager to share it.

"Prince Skull?" She called him and he turned to her. He knelt on her front legs in respect. "If you please, I'd like to share my strategy regarding our crossing over these platforms."

Prince Skull nodded his head, signaling her to speak her mind. She stood up straight. "As you are very well aware, I have ice powers," she began. "I believe that I can use my ice beam to forge a bridge of solid ice across these platforms to allow us to cross over."

Prince Skull considered this, then his eyebrows dropped and he frowned. 'I don't think so," he replied. "I don't think you are powerful enough to do so."

He hadn't meant it that way, but Glace felt like he had insulted her. Old emotions began to stir up inside of her. She hung her head low, trying to shield it from his view and portray herself as a strong pokemon but to no avail. She wanted to help, and he had turned it down so disgracefully, going as far as to calling her weak.

"I'm weak aren't I?" She mumbled, loud enough for him to make out the words. He was perplexed but didn't show it. "That's what they said. I'm weak. I'm different. I'm not made to fight. Isn't that what Queen Esperanza thought of me? That I'm weak. I will not tolerate this anymore! I am not weak!" She shrieked out loud.

By this point, she was near the verge of tears, but was determined to let emotions channel into something better than something sympathetic. She took off without warning and raced to the edge of the ledge they were standing on.

'Don't! Wait!" Prince Skull called out, the fear and anxiety clear in his voice which even surprised Absol who had been watching them converse in private. Prince Skull was convinced that Glace was going to jump off the ledge and kill herself, only because of something he said. He raced after her, trying to catch up before she took her own life in front of his eyes. To his surprise, she stopped dead at the edge and released a fierce ice beam from her jaws that froze the dense air around them and formed an ice bridge. He watched in amazement as she held up her move longer than he had ever remembered any ice pokemon hold up an ice beam and the air kept freezing harder and harder until the surfaces of the platforms too were frozen and the bridge kept extending over to the other five platforms ahead. Peering from the sides, he saw that she alone had managed to freeze enough air to make a 3 meter thick bridge of cold, hard ice, which would easily hold the weight of all the pokemon of his army. He looked over to her earnestly as he saw how she threw all she had into forging a bridge solely for his interest. Solely to prove herself worthy to him. Her sweat was frozen on her cheeks due to the cold temperature and her expression was exasperated but it seemed that didn't care. _Her powers are fueled by her frustration, anger and agony. _He thought. _What drives her? Lady Glace, why?_

The beam slowly died down and Glace collapsed, breathing heavily. Skull ran to her side to make sure she wasn't weakened at any cost. "Are you alright?" He asked nervously as he came to her side. At the sound of his voice, she raised her head to meet his eye and mumbled: "Am I still weak?" Her voice sounded weak and forced.

"Lady Glace," He scolded. "That was reckless and dense." He sighed lightly, feeling himself relieved. "But it was also brilliant." He added smiled down at her as he helped her to get back on her paws, then ordered Absol to get a single Hydreigon. After mounting her into the pokemon, he ordered it to fly low in the air next to him and carry Glace until she had recovered enough strength to walk on her own. He never intended for her to fight the battle anyway. With the Solid ice bridge forged for their ease, the army began to walk quickly across it to get to the other side before it would melt in the intense heat of the underground. The Liepard file walked first, followed by the houndoooms and then the mightyenas while the hydreigons hovered above, carrying the torches.

"Prince Skull?" Glace asked as she rode the hovering Hydreigon alongside the Umbreon Prince. He turned his head to her. "I'm not a burden, am I?"

He shook his head and laughed a little. Glace felt herself growing warm inside at the sound of his laughter. This was the first time she had ever heard him laugh like he was really amused. For the first time, it didn't sound hollow, like he was hiding something. It sounded sincere.

"You were never a burden," he told her softly, looking ahead and not glancing at her, his expression the usual blank again. "My father believed that if you save a maiden, you should see to her safety to the end. That is how he met and married my mother. What good of a king I would be if I defy my own father's most cherished beliefs?"

Glace smiled at his wisdom and kindheartedness despite his dark nature. He kept looking ahead and leading the army to the other side. Soon, they made it across the once dangerous platforms and made it to the other side. Cautiously making their way deeper into the cavern, they walked a little distance ahead until they came to a clear ground. The army stopped and looked about themselves. This was an underground battlefield that the Fossil Kingdom had created. The walls around them had torches held by metal structures in various places, lighting up the place and giving it a glorious look. In this well lit underground cavern, it was easy to see the ground-type pokemon army standing on the other end of the battlefield, ready for a fierce and brutal killing.

For the first few minutes, the armies just stood still, staring each other down. The fossil Kingdom's army consisted of Dophans, Krokoroks, and Excadrills in many numbers. The Ryperiors were the most easy to spot in this army but they too seemed to be few in number.

The king of the Fossil Kingdom, Diggersby, was standing alongside a group of Sandslashes, each standing in their ninja-like poses with their dagger claws held out to attack any pokemon and tear it from limb to limb if they dared attack their king. Prince Skull, Glace and Absol stood in their triangular position, staring up at the king with the goofy smile. Suddenly, King Diggersby burst out laughing into hysterics.

"hehehehe! How did you like my death trap? Hehehehe!" He laughed like an annoying little maniac and even the sandslashes seemed a little frustrated and annoyed but dared not disrupt their pose as to not offend and infuriate their king. Their expressions were a clear sign for Skull that they were embarrassed to be serving a goof.

Glace, having recovered her strengths got off the Hydreigon and he took to the air to join his fellow flying buddies. "Who is he?" Glace asked innocently, whispering into the Prince's ears.

"The king," He whispered back, solemnly. She wanted to laugh out at this statement but the gravity of the situation did not allow her to do so.

"More like the court jester," she mumbled and he nodded. King Diggersby eyed them suspiciously and gritted his teeth, disgusted by what he believed was a couple. He then held up his stone staff and raised the battle cry.

"HEHEHEHE! Attack you grounded rodents!" He cried and the armies fell upon each other like Mandibuzz on carcasses. The royals were lost in the chaos as the dark type and the ground type went against each other in the pursuit of blood and the battlefield was soon raging with sounds of hatred.

The Dophans charged at the approaching Liepards, their tusks held out in front to plunge into the flesh. Without a warning, they jumped up and curled themselves into balls of steel, then rolled along the battlefield, crushing the liepards into a fine pulp of bones and blood. The remaining Liepards dodged the rolling balls of death and then, taking a position in a straight line, they simultaneously released their dark impulse, blowing the dophans away into the air where the Dhydreigons attacked them with their dragon tails and send them flying into the ground walls of the Cavern.

The Houndooms and Krokoroks were jaw to jaw with each other, each trying to blow a severe bite to the other with no avail. A Krokorok unleashed his move earthquake and the ground below began to ramble to the calling of the ground pokemon. The ground beneath their feet split open and the Houndoooms fell into its darkness, shrieking for help that wasn't coming. The Mightyenas seized the opportunity and attacked with bite on the Krokoroks, taking them to the ground. They help up their moves as the Krokoroks struggled and kicked under their mighty grasp and bled from their throats, then slowly grew still. A Ryperior in the distance began shooting rocks at them from the distance, blowing the Mightyenas to bit and continued to fire at anyone in sight. A few Dophans rolling around were badly hit and collapsed; gasping for air but the Ryperior was too arrogant to care.

A mighteya was hit in the neck and his head went flying into the air. The Hydreigons, overwhelmed with anger after seeing the head fly in the air into their view, dove down to attack the Rypherior. Three of them clung to the Rypherior with the heads on their hands. The Rypherior fell on his back with a loud thud and the Hydreigons tore his body down as he shrieked in pain. The fellow Rypheriors came to his assistance but couldn't fire as much as a single rock before they were tackled by other Hydreigons and grounded, never to get up again or even draw another breath.

The Dophans were now attacking the Zoroarks. As they rolled to crush them, the Zoroarks shot out their arms and caught them in mid way, then began pushing them back with all their strengths until the mighty beasts collapsed. Then with Night slash, they made quick work of their enemies. At this point, the Dugtrios that had been hiding underground all along, attacked from beneath. The Zoroarks, being the intelligent of the two combatants, quickly shape shifted into Dugtrios, confusing the Dugtrios about who was one of them and who was not. While the Zoroarks, in Dugtrio from, dug their way into the ground to safety, the foolish and dim-witted Dugtrios began to attack and kill each other in hopes of killing the Darkus pokemon. A few in fact were, but most escaped and the Dugrios destroyed each other by themselves.

By now, it was inevitable that Darkus was easily prevailing over the army of Fossil Kingdom. King Diggersby himself had forgotten his cheerful, humorous nature as he hopped along the battlefield at an immense speed, protected by the Sandslashes running along, stabbing their dagger claws into the attacking Houndooms and the Mightyenas that were pouncing on them ceaselessly. A Hydreigon dove down head first into the King Diggersby in hopes of a quick slash but with his ninja senses, a Sandslash saw him and jumped into the air, then spinningmid air, he sliced the Hydriegon's head clean off and it's body collapsed, crushing under the feet of a raging Rypherior.

"Sire!" The sandslash called. "I believe this call for a retreat!" King Diggersby raised his head and looked at the ground wall overhead the cavern. At first, he was afraid, then turning to his subjects; he gave them that psychotic smile and raises the cry, "RETREAT! RETREAT NOW!"

The word went around fast and soon enough, the ground pokemon were either running away, or digging away from the battlefield. Prince Skull, who had been with Glace all the time, protecting her against the Dophans and the Rypheriors alongside Absol while the armies battled, was slightly fazed at this sudden retreat. In a matter of few minutes, the battlefield was emptied out and not a single ground-type pokemon could be seen, except for the dead ones that littered the field.

"What's the matter?" Skull mumbled to himself. For the first time ever, Glace saw something on his face that she had never ever hoped of seeing. Fear. He was scared of something. Something was terribly wrong and just about every Darkus pokemon could feel it. The Fossil Pokemon were not the ones to retreat, especially if the battlefield was in their favor, then why, why did they retreat?

Suddenly, the walls overhead began to shake violently and huge rock masses began to shower down on the pokemon below, giving them a serious blow. When the rumbling stopped, Prince Skull looked up and his eyes widened. Not from fear, but shock. All the pokemon followed his gaze and looked overhead at the wall covering them and their eyes widened too at the sight. A giant snake-like pokemon was above their head, spreading its green body and giant green tail on the roof of ground that covered over them inside the giant cavern. He looked majestic and graceful and was as large as the battlefield itself. The Pokemon raised his head and looked down at the pokemon below and his eyes gleamed. He looked murderous and lethal. That was all Prince Skull could see in his eyes. His tail slithered and another earthquake befell the cavern and rocks began to fall from the ground above again.

"RUN!" Skull growled at his army and they began to retreat. The dark-types quickly ran back the way they came from. A yellow mist began to envelope the green pokemon and then, a huge outburst of energy was released, killing several of the fleeing Darkus pokemon in their desperate attempt to live.

Glace was frightened to death and couldn't find the energy to move. Grabbing her with his jaws, Prince Skull hastily threw her on top of a Hydriegon on which Absol was sitting then pounced on to the Hydriegon himself, digging his claws into its body. He growled at the pokemon and it took off at great speed, the army fled and soon enough, with many killed, the remaining pokemon were hastily carried away up the pit and back out at the surface. The ground below them continued to shake and they heard loud roars, undoubtedly from the green pokemon that had attacked them.

Prince Skull, Glace, Absol and just about all the surviving pokemon were breathing heavily, praying to Giratina in gratitude from saving their lives from the green beast. There weren't many that many survived. The army now seemed almost 5 times smaller than it was when they came.

Glace was the most scared of all. Her ears and tail had dropped low and refused to stand back up. More importantly, she was baffled by the strange encounter.

"What was that?" She asked Prince Skull. The Umbreon was breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath, making it increasingly difficult for him to answer her question immediately. She waited patiently until he was ready to.

"That….was Zygarde!" He finally replied. Worry seemed to have consumed the otherwise calm prince. "And that was Land's Wrath!"

* * *

**Ok, I originally planned to add the war between Frere and Aquanesia to this chapter but then I decided to write it separately. **

**I took me a while to write down this chapter to a satisfactory level, especially with Zygarde being the one who is the reason Darkus lost.**

**Leave a Review and tell what you think!**

**Next chapter: The war between Frere and Aquanesia (Blaze and Aquila)**


	15. Battle of Hearts

**Important note: As you remembered it took three days for Darkus to reach Fossil Kingdom when they battled. The events of this war and the one before it in previous chapter took place simultaneously (At the same time) so don't confuse time periods. **

**I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling mistakes you find despite my proofread.**

**Chapter 15**

Aquila stood on a pedestal in her throne room. Her servants, the woopers were hustling around her, dressing her up in her gold armor for the battle she was going to lead, the battle against the nation of her friend and the King she was hopelessly in love with. The woopers worked their quick fingers as they clipped the golden band around her tail with two sharp swords at the edge of her fins. They put gold bands in her front legs as well. Aquila lowered her head as a round, circular head piece with the same texture as her ruffles was brought forth and put through her head and fitted into the rough edges of her ruff, completely engulfing it in pure gold.

_What would he think of me? _She thought, blinking down at the pearl floor of her throne room as her gold head piece was being fitted. _Would he think lowly of me? Is this really how it must end? I wish the end was here. I wish I would drop dead before he does. _How she wished it was a mere nightmare and she'd wake up relieved from this spiritual torture. Her mind was racing. All she wanted was to call off the war and go back to the time of peace and tranquility. However, orders of Palkia were absolute for the people of Aquanesia. There was no way out for her.

"You are ready, Your Majesty," The woopers said in a grim tone. She nodded once and they were dismissed. She didn't blame them. This was no time for anyone to be smiling or going about their cheerful routines. War was always uncertain. Someone's husband was going to die. Someone's son was going to die. The worst of all, the Queen could die. Or her one true love could pay the price for her soul.

As she exited the throne room, Mudkip was waiting for her. Since he could walk on land, he was chosen in the two royal advisors to accompany the queen on her expedition to land. In all her life, Aquila had only been out to the surface of the water for wars because the other kingdoms would attack Aquanesia. Aquanesia had never desired to conquer, nor was it ordered. Now, Aquila's army was going to have to travel thousands of miles to the Volcano of Frere, near which the battle would take place. The battle field would give the Frere Kingdom the advantage; but the type-advantage they possessed could subsidize it easily.

Walking out of the castle, Aquila made her way to the area where her red, mega evolution Gyarados was waiting to carry her to the surface, after which, he'd have to say behind due to his inability to walk on land. The army was waiting for her as well, standing in files of Floatzels, Golducks and Greninjas. The Blastoises were the fewest in numbers but of course, among all others, they were the largest and the mightiest. Walking amidst the files, she made her way to the Gyarados who lowered his head and bowed, closing his eyes to avoid her gaze.

She put forth her paw on his head and rubbed it gently, giving him an unpleasant feeling that this war in particular was bothering her. The fact that he knew why wasn't helping either. He knew she was leading a battle against the Flareon she had met not long ago and he knew what she held in her heart for him. That is why he wasn't able to look her in the eye. He had no answers for her. No comforting words for her.

"Gyarados," Aquila said, addressing him. He kept his eyes closed. "I want you to answer this question, not as my servant, but as the loyal friend to me that you are."

"Hmm," he hummed in a whisper, still keeping his eyes closed.

"Am I doing the right thing?" She asked, stopping her paw right in the middle of his giant head. He remained still for a few second, thinking this over, then opened his eyes and met her gaze.

"Not in the slightest," he told her sincerely. She has wanted to hear this.

**3 days later:-**

**In Frere Kingdom:**

Blaze stood ready in his room, his crimson red cape around his neck. He was looking in the glass and setting up the small bob of yellow turf on his head. If you go proposing alliances to other kingdoms, it is vital to look presentable. Blaze cared about this formability just as much as a Garbordor would care about his personal hygiene. Yet, rules were rules. And it was probably best to abide by all of them if you are going up to Darkus.

Finally satisfied with his look, Blaze quickly ran out of his room to join his waiting Pyroars who'd accompany him on the expedition to Darkus Kingdom. In no time at all, he made it to the door. He stopped dead in his track at the door and cleared his throat. The Kricketune guards rolled their eyes as they opened the door for him and he walked in with as much elegance as he could manage, being the king.

Fennekin was waiting near the throne room for him. Six Pyroars stood in his wait, three males and three females, holding their heads high. They kneeled when he passed them on his walk to where Fennekin was standing. He reached her and smiled down at her as she was quite shorter than him. "Welcome Your Majesty."

He gave a short grunt and rolled his eyes. She had to put her paw to her lips to keep herself from laughing at his funny gesture of the way she followed every formality designed for the royals.

"I believe we should leave now," King Blaze said to the royal advisor and she nodded. Just as he turned to the Pyroars to address them, his hearing sense met with a sharp squawking noise which made him want to cover his ears and scream. Holdingback the urge to do so, he turned his attention to where it came from. A TalonFlame flew into the Throne room and began circling the air in haste. His very presence showed the tension bustling inside of him.

"We are under attack! We are under attack!" He squawked loudly. His anxiety had been contagious because all of a sudden, worry befell the throne room. King Blaze was now seething with fury. His attackers couldn't have chosen a worst time to attack their kingdom.

"Prepare the army!" He barked and the Pyroars rushed out of the room with his orders. The quicker they were ready, the better it would be. There was a burst of activity as all the pokemon in the throne room ran around, passing the message, trying to prepare in the shortest time possible to meet with the invaders.

King Blaze gritted his teeth and grunted under his breath. 'Which Kingdom?" He barked at the Talonflame, nearly frightening the feathers off of him. Finding his voice out of fear, he managed to stutter: "A-Aquanesia Your Majesty!"

Blaze felt like a sharp knife had been plunged in his heart. In fact, the shock and pain of a knife to the heart couldn't sum up the astonishment and agony that suddenly consumed his heart. "It can't be," he mumbled out of sheer disbelieve. "Aquila. She-she won't."

In his anger, he shot out a Flamethrower at the Talonflame, burning a few of his feathers to ashes. Although hardly damaging, the Talonflame lost his balance in mid air and crashed down to the ground on his back, his wings spread out. Blaze pounced onto the fallen bird pokemon and pinned him to the ground.

"It's not true!" he growled, gritting his teeth and showing his fangs. Talonflame could see the flames just fighting to burst out from the king's muzzle and incinerate every last feather on his body. "Tell me it's not true!" Blaze shrieked again.

"Your Majesty, calm down," Fennekin cried, pulling him away from the Talonflame. She seemed to be the only one who understood what he was feeling which was true because she was the only one who knew his secret. Upon regaining his liberty, the bird pokemon flapped up its wings and rushed out of the throne room through the open balcony in the back, flying for his life. Clearly, the King was not in his senses. Every bit of it was true. Blaze had been traumatized by the sudden revelation.

"Your Majesty," Fennekin said, gently rubbing King Blaze's back to calm him down. "I suggest you stay behind and let us carry your orders and deal your hand."

"No," King Blaze mumbled. "Aquila. She was a friend right? She wouldn't desire my destruction, would she? She said she wanted to help me." His words sounded like he was trying to convince himself. However, there was no time. The Kingdom needed Blaze to be strong, especially now that there was a kingdom fast approaching in cold blood and pursuit of conquer.

"Your Majesty," Fennekin repeated. All she wanted was for the King to calm down. "You really should not fight."

"No," Blaze held up a paw. "I need to know why. And only Aquila can answer that. I will fight. I will reason with her."

Fennekin had never been afraid of Blaze before in her entire life. Now, she was very much frightened by his sudden behavior. All she could do was nod her head in response to the King's decision.

**A few miles outside Volcano of Frere:-**

Although they had geared up in haste, the Frere army looked prepared any way you'd look at it. Their king, King Blaze was armored in Gold Bands on all four paws and a gold covering over his back. The Frere Army consisted of Pyroars who formed a diamond formation around the king for his protection during the chaos they'd soon be surrounded in. The army pokemon included Volcarona, Ninetales and Monfernos. The largest pokemon in the army were Magmortars and much fewer in number than the former pokemon mentioned.

They stopped at the place where their last battle, the battle of Blinds had taken place. King Blaze rubbed the earth of the battlefield with his paw, feeling its dry contents of sand against his soft paws. _Watch me brother. Protect me, Arcanine. _He made a silent prayer. He took in a heavy breath. He still didn't believe that Aquila wanted this and thought some sort of conspiracy was involved. Whatever it was, he was going to find out. He couldn't bring himself to believe that she, of all people, wanted him dead.

The army of Aquanesia arrived shortly. The first pokemon Blaze spotted were the giant Blastoises which he could see far out into the horizon. As the army got closer, he could see the shorter pokemon, Grininjas, Floatzels and Golducks. It seemed that the army constituted of some of the most powerful water-type pokemon and given their type advantage, going against them felt like hugging death itself.

The armies stopped with a little distance between them. For the first few minutes, Blaze kept staring ahead at Aquila who stood out in the front, two Floatzels at her both sides. She looked blank and didn't meet his gaze, which only reinforced his belief that she had been pressured into war by someone else, perhaps a powerful ally or something, or a conqueror of their kingdom. If that was so, Blaze would see to those matters as soon as he had knocked some sense into Aquila after the battle. He had already ordered his army to not touch the Queen of Aquanesia as he would like to deal with her himself. As he was the king, they vowed to obey.

"In the name of Palkia!" The Aquanesia pokemon raised the battle cry and a loud combined roar from both sides was heard. The pokemon ran into the field and into each other, clashing in a massive storm of blue and red against each other.

The Ninetales ran swiftly around the field, flames held between their jaws. The move was unleashed when they came in collision with the golducks. The Golducks countered the flamethrowers with their water gun, dousing the flames in the aqua blue. The Ninetales were shot back and thrown into some of the Monfernos that were backing up the attack. A few of them jumped to dodge their companions that were thrown on them and unleashed focus blasts on the Golducks, throwing them down on their backs. The attack got so brutal that bones were heard breaking and the Golducks were left to bleed out on the open field.

The Volcaronas on the other hand were busy in combating with the sly Grininjas. With their lightening quick movements and fighting skills, they were able to make swift kicks to the flying Volcaronas. A Grininja flew from behind a Volcarona and took him down to the ground, then using his claw like hands; he ripped out the wings of the pokemon, blooding gushing everywhere on the Grininja's blue body and staining his face. The remaining Volcaronas in response unleashed a collective move of Bug buzz, torturing the ninja pokemon. Suspended in place by the mighty combined move, their bodies were soon nothing but pieces of flesh.

Aquila was advancing quickly into the Frere territory, three Floatzels running by her side. It had been incredible easy for her to get around the chaos without having any pokemon attack her. _Why are they not fighting? _She wondered as she led out an Aqua jet and blew over some Ninetales. _I am an invader. An assailant. I bring death upon them. Then why? Why won't they fight me?_

The Magmortars and Blastoises were facing off each other in a dual of fire and water balls. They each fired their respective elements from their rockets, which flew around the air around them. Their overweight bodies made it impossible to move quickly enough to dodge so when one was hit, he'd fall on his back with a massive thud that shook the earth. The Grininjas joined the Blastoises' side, jumping onto their backs. The Blastoises fired hydro pumps from their two rockets while their move was backed up by the Aqua jet of the Grininjas standing on their backs. The Magmortars braced themselves for the tsunami-like moves approaching them, holding their launchers in front of their faces and awaiting death. The Volcanroas interfered with seconds to spear and using their silver winds in a combined move, they were able to drive back the water moves in the direction of the attackers and they were thrown back, damaged by their own move. Before they had a chance to regain themselves, the Volcaronas zapped down on them in bug buzz, cracking their shells into million pieces, and then chewing on their soft raw flesh underneath. In an agonizing scream, many Blastoises were put to eternal rest. The fleeing and treacherous Grininjas were caught by the Magmortars who shoved them up in their launcher then fired them around the field at the Floatzels who had been giving the Monfernos a hard time with their Bubble beams.

_Where is she?!" _King Blaze grumbled in frustration as he ran around the field like a wild pokemon he was, searching for Queen Aquila. He had wanted to see her alone so he had ordered the Pyroars to fight the battle rather than run around him for the sole purpose of his protection. Don't be afraid if you love. He had been fighting off many Floatzels and Golducks who mostly tried to claw his armored back. He had sustained a few cuts on his head but he was too angry to care. Too worried to care.

Then amidst the storm of blue and red, he saw her. She was there, armored in gold like him with her tail swishing the two fin swords like she was yearning for blood. His blood. She looked up and their eyes met and for a second, he saw the same kindness in them that he had sensed when he first met her. The pupils seemed to go blank and she looked like she wanted to cry. For the first few minutes, they stood alone in the field, staring at each other while the battles around them raged on. Then Aquila took in a heavy breath, howled and charged at him, her sword tail pointed at him.

"Aquila!" He shirked as he jumped to dodge the plunging blow. Aquila missed him completely and he landed on his paws. The both turned to face each other and for the first time ever, he saw vulnerability in her eyes. "Aquila, why!?" Blaze inquired desperately.

"Silence Frere King!" She growled in response then used Hydro pump on him. He countered with his scorching Fire spin. The heat evaporated the massive water move and the two attacks cancelled out each other. She was powerful but he was a match for her. She stayed still, waiting for him to make a move. When he didn't, she frowned in confusion.

"Aquila, I refuse to fight you!" He stated, keeping his ground. This frustrated her more and she charged at him. He tried to side dodge her but she jumped and flipped her tail at his face. He drew back his neck and the blade only missed him by an inch. Aquila landed on her paws and attempted to claw him but he caught her paw with his and stopped her, then pulled her close against him.

"Is this what you really want?" He asked. She sensed hurt and depression in his voice. The worst was, she felt the same.

"Yes!" She lied and broke free of his grasp, then unleashed Aqua jet and threw him far into the distance. A sharp pain flared in his right leg but he had no time to acknowledge it. He raised his head just in time to see Aquila bringing down her fin swords on his head. He rolled out of the way and the swords dug deep into the ground below. He scampered a little way off and watched her as she tried to pull it back out with all her might.

"Aquila, you do not want me dead, do you?" He asked, addressing her. If he had been looking for the wrong thing to say, he had found it. This little statement had awakened the passion in her and she pulled out her sword with a mighty heave and pointed it towards him.

"I have orders! I must assassinate you" She screeched. He could tell from her voice she wanted to cry. _She doesn't want me dead. _He said inside his head. He stood still, making it easier for her to finish him. He was sure from the core of his heart that if given the choice, she won't kill him. She didn't have the courage to. All he had to do was give her the chance.

She lashed out on him with a series of combat moves and he blocked each easily. They weren't using any real moves, only fighting using paws and kicks, with Aquila occasionally striking with her swords to no avail because he would evade its pointed edges. She closed her eyes and threw her all, screaming and howling. Tears streamed down her face as Blaze watched and blocked her moves, waiting for her to give in. He was sure she would.

Soon enough, Aquila started slowing down. Her moves were much slower now and not as deadly. It seemed now that she had stopped trying to hurt him and was just letting her frustration out. She cried and cried as she moved around like a wild pokemon, attacking animlessly, not even targeting him. When Blaze thought she had had enough, he caught her by the paws and she dropped on her legs. He looked down upon his beloved, worry clear in his eyes.

"Stop it Blaze!" She cried, looking him in the eyes, pleading. "I cannot kill you! I cannot hurt you! I can tolerate this no more! Call off the war! I surrender! I surrender!" She cried and cried while he smiled. He knew it. She couldn't. She cared about him. She didn't want to kill him. He had his answers.

"Aquila," He spoke softly, leaning into her with his muzzle. Her eyes drooped low and glazed over and her body went limp. His smile vanished instantly as he saw her drop lifelessly to the ground. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. Blaze furrowed his brows in concern.

"Aquila?" He asked nudging her with his muzzle. She gave no response. He did it again, worried to the heights of anxiety. _I did not kill her, did I? _He questioned himself. Tears escaped his eyes. He looked around as others started noticing the two royals. The pokemon stopped when they saw one on the ground, possibly dead.

"Call off the war!" Blaze ordered and the message went around. The rumors spread that the Queen had been killed. Pokemon stopped in their combats and looked about. Many Aquanesia pokemon fled the field in knowledge of their dead queen. Soon enough, there was a flurry of action as pokemon ran and screamed. Palkia's name was heard multiple times as the water pokemon said their prayers. The fire pokemon stood still and stared at the scene.

Blaze was too miserable to care. He brought his head close to Aquila's and nuzzled her, trying to awaken her but in vain. "You cannot do this Aquila!" He mumbled to her, crying. "Wake up," he kept repeating but she didn't. Sympathetic looks were thrown in the direction of Queen Aquila and her lover, King Blaze. And this, concluded the battle.

**Ok, this was probably the saddest chapter I've ever written but I enjoyed writing this the most. I have big expectations from this piece. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one.**

**Review and tell me how you liked it!**


End file.
